HIBRy\RY0FC0NGRESS.1 

#f.I«P |op!in0W |o.- J 

I ^^// ...C 3 \ 



I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^ 



ALL FOR CHRIST; 



OB, 



HOW THE CHEISTUN MAI OBTAIN, EY A RENEWED CONSE- 
CRATION OF HIS HEART, THE FULLNESS OF JOY 
REFERRED TO BY THE SAYIOUR JUST 
PREVIOUS TO HIS CRUCIFIXION. 



WITH 



3;ilu$ti|ation$ ft[om th^ Livas of those who have 
mado this ^onseotiation. 



BY REV. THOMAS CARTER, D.D., 

Author of " History of the Great Reformation in England, 
Ireland, Scotland, Germany," etc. 



'' These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in 
you, and that your joy might be full." 

'' Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." 

*' And now come I to thee ; and these things I speak in the world, that 
they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves." 



NEW YORK: 
NELSON & PHILLIPS 

CINCINNATI : HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
1875. 






Entered according to Act of Ck)ngTess, in the year 1S75, by 

IIELBON & PHILLIPS, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



Thb Library 

OF CONf^RESS 



WASHINGTON 



INTRODUCTION 



-♦♦♦- 



IT is true, sacredly true, that every Christian 
. may obtain in this life a deliverance from 
sin, and that fullness of joy promised by the 
Saviour. It is the object, the purpose, of our 
existence on earth. 

Many are deterred from seeking them by a 
dread of the crosses to be borne. What a 
phantom! The cross is often heavy before, 
but afterward it is light, Jesus said, ^^My 
yoke is easy and my burden is light.'* It is in 
a higher state of grace that we find this state- 
ment emphatically true. Others are hindered 
by the impression that if we are saved from 
sin we shall be puffed up with pride. Why 
should that which magnifies Christ and abases 
self make us proud ? How can the extinction 
of selfishness, and the receiving of Christ as 
our only full and perfect Saviour, leave room 
for pride ? There may be mistaken persons, 
who are professors of holiness who are spirit- 
ually proud, as there are mistaken persons 



4 Introduction. 

who are professors of conversion ; but this is 
no argument against the doctrine, and does 
not affect the obHgation to seek, possess, and 
enjoy the fullness of joy held out to our view 
in the Bible. 

In the following pages we endeavor to ex- 
plain the renewed and full consecration of the 
heart which precedes the reception of this 
grace, believing that when this is made the 
greatest difficulty is overcome. We have not 
enlarged upon the faith which appropriates 
the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit be- 
cause it was not our object to do so, and 
because its exercise becomes comparatively 
easy after the obstacles in ourselves have been 
cleared away. 

We have not proposed to write a work on 
perfect love, except so far as is necessary to 
elucidate our subject, nor a work on the vari- 
ous modes of seeking this blessing; for some 
may do so by special prayer, some by an in- 
creased study of the Bible, some by seasons of 
fasting, some by a resort to our summer taber- 
nacles — all most excellent. Our aim is only 
to explain and enforce that new consecration 
which is deep enough and thorough enough 
to bring us up to the standard of the fullness 
of Christ. T, C. 



001^TEE"TS 



Chapter Page 

I. Perfect Love — What it is Not. . . . , 7 

II. Perfect Love — What it Is. 17 

III. Relations of Perfect Love to Methodism 

AND other Forms of Christianity 26 

IV. Consecration — Conversion and Entire 

Sanctification Contrasted 33 

V. Life Consecrated 42 

VI. Feelings Consecrated 52 

VII. Time Consecrated 61 

VIII. Thought Consecrated..., 74 

IX. Words Consecrated 81 

X. Food Consecrated , 96 

XL Dress Consecrated no 

XII. Integrity in Business 121 

XIIL Social Tastes 130 

XIV. Money Consecrated 138 

XV. Narratives Illustrating the Liberal Use 

OF Money. 159 

XVI. Whether a Converted Soul, Leaving the 

Earth without BEma Fully Sanctified, 

can be Admitted to Heaven 171 

XYIL Witnesses of Perfect Love. ........ ..... . 179 



ALL FOR CHRIST. 



-♦♦♦- 



CHAPTER I. 

PERFECT LOVE — WHAT IT IS NOT. 

AS we draw nearer to Christ how often the 
unbidden wish arises, ^* Oh ! that we were 
still nearer, and with him in heaven." The 
desire seems to grow upon us as we get closer 
views of the eternal shore. We knew a Chris- 
tian lady of Brooklyn who, for several days, 
lay upon the verge of the flood. She herself 
and her friends supposed that she was just 
about to pass over. Her symptoms changed, 
however, and her physician told her that she 
was likely to recover. So bright, so clear had 
been the vision of the other side, and so en- 
raptured was she with its glories, that when 
questioned afterward, as to her feelings at the 
time, she replied, ^* I was sorry to return." 



8 All for Christ. 

A young man, whom we also knew, had 
almost joined the heavenly company. His 
father and friends were standing by his side 
waiting for his departure. His strength was al- 
most gone. The waves were gathering around 
him, and he was sinking in their embrace, 
when suddenly, as if inspired by some glorious 
vision breaking on his eyes, he cried, *^ Let me 
go! father, let me go! I see Jesus." And with 
the words upon his lips he passed away. 

An old man had long dwelt in the pampas 
of South America, and had been long exposed 
to the temptations of a southern clime. But 
he never forgot the Saviour, whom he had 
chosen in his early manhood, and when he 
came to die, upon the banks of the majestic 
Parana, where we first saw him, he declared 
that for an hour before he died he saw Jesus 
by his bedside about to be his guide to the 
heavenly mansions. Oh, what unutterable 
desires must have been concentrated in that 
hour as the Saviour waited to receive him ! 

So with others. One who had labored in 
Africa as a missionary, ere he left the earth 
exclaimed, a heavenly radiance illumining his 



Perfect Love — What it is Not. 9 

countenance, " I hear music, beautiful music, 
the sweetest melodies ! I see glorious sights. 
I see heaven. Wonderful, wonderful, wonder-- 
ful things I see. Let me go. Oh, how 
beautiful ! '' 

How often you have rejoiced, Christian 
brother, at the thought of that hour, and while 
willing to wait all the days of your appointed 
time till your change should come, you could 
hardly repress the desire to be safely in heav- 
en ! How often, O young convert, especially 
as you recall the joys of conversion, have you 
exulted at the thought that the last tempta- 
tion should be overcome, and that you, too, 
would be home with the Saviour! Is it not 
cheering — is it not inspiring — is it not remark- 
able—that this is the very last expressed wish 
of Christ himself in behalf of those who were 
to love him, in that memorable prayer offered 
up just previous to his crucifixion? "' Father, 
I will that they also, whom thou hast given 
me, be with me where I am ; that they may 
behold my glory, which thou hast given me." 

But to be with Christ and to behold his 
glory there must needs be a preparation. In- 



10 All for Christ. 

deed, they are so inseparably connected that 
the Saviour states this preparation in the very 
verse which precedes the wish which he so 
earnestly expressed : ^^ I in them, and thou in 
me, that they may be made perfect in one/' 

And to show that this grace was not limited 
to the disciples, or to those who knew him in 
the flesh, or to the immediate successors of 
the apostles, or to the bishops and ministers 
of his Church, or to the wise and learned, but 
is the heritage of all the people, rich and poor, 
small and great, ignorant and wise, he adds : 
^^ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
also which shall believe on me through their 
word." 

Wherever, then, there is a follower of Christ 
who believes on him through the teachings of 
the apostles in the New Testament, who by 
faith has received the remission of his sins ; 
for that man, woman, or child the Saviour of- 
fered up the earnest prayer that he might be 
perfected in love. He did not mean perfect 
in knowledge. The angels, who shine nearest 
the throne, are not so. God alone pos- 
sesses perfect knowledge. We may love 



Perfect Love — What it is Not, 1 1 

him with a perfect heart, but cannot here 
serve him Avith a perfect head. 

Neither did He mean d. freedom from infirm- 
ities. Who will assert that we shall ever arrive 
in this life at a state of grace which shall ex- 
empt us from mental and physical imperfec- 
tion ? While the soul is confined in its clay tab- 
ernacle, with the senses in full exercise, how 
many times these senses may lead us to mo- 
mentary deviations, though checked as soon 
as consciousness reveals them, from the per- 
fect law of God ! These deviations would be 
sin in the angels, because the sentinels which 
watch the citadel of their zvill are perfect in 
their nature of purity, and give instant and 
perfect warning of danger. 

Neither did He mean d, freedom from temp- 
tations. He "' was in all points tempted like as 
we are," and we cannot expect to be above 
our Master. Even to the heart filled with 
perfect love the battle is not yet ended. 
There is no cessation of hostilities until we 
pass the Jordan of death, and sit down among 
the redeemed of God. Sin is destroyed within, 
^Ut evil spirits rage without ; and we can nei-? 



12 All for Christ. 

ther sheathe our sword, nor lay our armor down. 
Satan will attack us with more violence than 
ever when we become more active in our ag- 
gressions against his kingdom ; but we have 
become strong in God. We know what it is 
to keep close to Christ and live under the 
shadow of his wing. We can say with joy, 
'' Thanks be unto God who giveth us the 
victory.** 

Neither did He mean a stationary state. 
The heart which has been made perfect in 
love grows in grace more rapidly than it ever 
did before. A diseased child cannot grow in 
vigor until he is healed. Look at that pallid 
cheek and sunken eye. Sickness is eating 
away his vital powers. But here is a skillful 
physician. He undertakes to heal him. He 
succeeds. Now the child grows in stature 
and strength. So, when the great Physician 
has made a perfect cure in our diseased souls, 
our capabilities rapidly expand, and, in their 
expansion, are filled with the image of 
Christ. 

Neither did He mean an independent state. 
The purified soul sees as it nevei* did before 



Perfect Love — What it is Not, i -x 



J 



Its own past sinfulness, and therefore de- 
pends more fully on Christ's blood as its only 
sacrifice — sees its own weakness as it never 
did, and depends more firmly on Christ as its 
only strength. It is conscious of being in the 
everlasting arms. It has a satisfying, exultant 
faith that the Saviour will carry it safely 
through the sorrows of life down to the dark 
valley — over the river. Looking at its own 
feebleness, Christ enlarges to its view. It sees 
by faith the Celestial City — listens to the 
strains of heavenly music as they float through 
the pearly gates, and its spiritual ear catches 
the inquiry of the angels, '' Who is this 
coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her 
beloved.^" 

Neither did He mean a state of constant 
rapture, Christ was '^ a man of sorrows and ac- 
quainted with grief.'* We must often drink 
of the same cup, and be baptized with the 
same baptism. We may be in heaviness 
through manifold temptations, while our faith 
remains clear and our moral nature untainted 
by sin. We may rejoice evermore without 
t)eing always on the mountain top. 



14 All for Christ. 

Neither did He mean that perfect love 
would insure us against final apostasy. Life is 
still a probation in every state of grace. The 
mature Christian may fall as well as the 
youngest convert ; but if every step forward 
makes us stronger in God, he who has ad- 
vanced the most is in least danger of turning 
back. Just at this point many sincere follow- 
ers of Christ make a grave rnistake. After 
a severe struggle of their faith they reach the 
blessing of perfect love : it may be alone with 
God, in the sacred solitude of their own cham- 
ber, or it may be amid some joyous, triumph- 
ant, weeping scene of social fellowship. They 
feel that the cleansing blood of Christ is ap- 
plied to their hearts, that they have found a 
blessing so pervading their whole being that no 
previous one ever equaled it. They leave the 
hallowed spot with the indefinite idea that if 
they now lose their faith or fall into sin the 
precious grace is forfeited and they need try 
no further, but must relapse hopelessly into 
their former condition. Alas, how many have 
been betrayed by this reasoning ! If God has 
shown them only once the nature of that faitl^ 



Perfect Love — What it is Not, 1 5 

by which they lifted the vail, they know how 
to exercise it again. If by inadvertence or 
otherwise they now transgress, they have only 
to fly by the same faith to the blood which 
cleanseth from all sin. It is a most inesti- 
mable blessing to have found the way — to 
have learned how to enter up into the prom- 
ised rest — to have caught a glimpse of the 
goodly inheritance. Like a traveler who has 
once been over a road, and who can find it by 
means of that single, it may be hurried, sight 
better than by many minute descriptions, the 
child of God has seen the way, and can pass, 
therefore, over it again more easily than he 
ever could before. It was thus with the holy 
Fletcher during the first weeks or months 
after he reached the state of entire sanctifica- 
tion. Again and again did he relapse, but he 
rose again until his faith, by repeated exercise, 
became steadfast. O, brother ! O, young con- 
vert ! repeat your faith, knock more loudly at 
the door, and enter again the inner chamber 
of your Lord's presence. 

There is no state on earth in which we 
cannot sin. It is enough if, in this world of 



1 6 All for Christ. 

temptation, we need not sin. In the highest 
grace we can only be kept by constant watch- 
fulness and prayer. If these are intermitted 
we fall. Our only safety is to come at once 
again to the blood which removes every 
stain. 



Perfect Love — What it Is, 17 



CHAPTER II. 

PERFECT LOVE — WHAT IT IS. 

WHAT is it, more directly, to draw so near 
to Christ that we enjoy his perfect love ? 
We answer. It is the fulfillment of the com- 
mand to love him with all the heart, soul, 
mind, and strength ; and our neighbor as our- 
selves. Some of its fruits are : — 

1. To suffer long when trodden on or ill 
treated ; to be kind ; to envy not when others 
are blessed with wealth and honor which we 
think we deserve as well as they ; to vaunt not 
ourselves by declaring our good deeds or en- 
dowments ; not to be puffed up by prosperity ; 
to bear all things patiently; to believe all 
things possible in favor of the good intentions, 
however they may be outwardly manifested, 
of those around us ; to hope all things in ref- 
erence to their conduct ; and to endure in 
these graces under every discouragement. 

2. The perfect accord of the will with the 



1 8 All for Christ. 

will of Christ, so that we wish, above all else, 
that he will do what he chooses with us. If 
he please to work in us by pain and sickness ; 
or through us in the exhibition of meekness, 
patience, and long-suffering under insult, loss of 
friends, poverty, calamity, a martyr's death ; or 
by us in a life of devotion to his cause, we find 
our desires so in harmony with his that, 

" With every breath, we love to choose 
Whatever cross our Lord approves." 

This is not mysticism, or an absence of all 
consideration of ourselves, but a conscious 
choosing of God. Neither is it an absorption 
in the Deity, believed in by some of the an- 
cient heathens. Our own will is never lost or 
merged in his, but simply subject. We may 
exceedingly desire some object and pray for 
it, but our language is that of Christ,. ^^ not my 
will but thine be done." Hence the lines of 
our hymns — 

" Let all I am in thee be lost, 
Let all be lost in God.'* 

" Filled with all the Deity, 

All immersed and lost in love." 

** Let me into nothing fall " — 

are rather poetic figures than orthodox prayers. 



Pei^fect Love — What it Is. 19 

3. Increased usefulness. It is a striking and 
impressive fact that the Bible mode of secur- 
ing a revival of religion is the entire sanctifica- 
tion of the children of God. This is so both 
in the Old and New Testaments. David says, 
'' Create in me a clean hearty O God ; and renew 
a right spirit within me. Cast me not away 
from thy presence ; and take not thy Holy 
Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of 
thy salvation; and uphold me w^ith thy free 
Spirit. The7Z " — when he has received a clean 
heart and the joy of God's full salvation — 
'^ will I teach transgressors thy ways ; and sin- 
ners shall be co7iverted tmto thee,'' So it is in 
the New Testament. In our Saviour's prayer, 
hereinbefore referred to, and contained in the 
seventeenth chapter of John, he asks ^^that 
they also " — future believers in him — '^ may 
be one in us, that the world may believe ;'' and 
again, *' that they may be made perfect in one ; 
and that the world may know that thou hast 
sent mey This is Christ's method of reaching 
the unconverted world — a completeness of 
grace in his own children first, and then the 
g-onversign of sinners as a natural result. This 



20 All for Christ. 

is the only way he prays for sinners in the 
whole of the prayer. And this was exactly 
illustrated in the history of his Church. We 
do not read of a single conversion during the 
well-nigh fifty days which elapsed between his 
resurrection and the day of pentecost, though 
they had the Master's personal presence with 
them, again and again, for much of that time. 
But when the disciples received the pentecostal 
fire, which cleansed their hearts, then their 
converts were by thousands. 

We do not say there are no revivals in com- 
munities where there are no Christians enjoy- 
ing the fullness of God's love ; but we might 
ask experience how much such revivals are 
worth, and whether the converts, without nurs- 
ing fathers and mothers to sustain them, are 
not often so weak and short-lived that they 
add nothing to the strength of the Church. 
This is, then, the direct mode for a Christian 
to become a useful man. The late Wilbur 
Fisk remarked on his death-bed, " All, all I 
have been enabled to do for Christ, I owe to 
the enjoyment of a full salvation." 

If we want to be clothed with power — if we 



Perfect Love — What it Is. 2 1 

want to impress the world — if we want to 
testify our gratitude in the most effectual way 
to Him who hath loved us, let us take up the 
mantle of such Elijahs and do likewise. 

4. Destruction of sin in the heart. It is 
conceded that we cannot do God's will as 
Adam did, or as the angels do. Our under- 
standing is darkened. All our action is through 
weakened organs, and we are not able, there- 
fore, to think, speak, and act with a perfect con- 
formity to the letter of God's law. The best of 
men may, and ought to say, 

" Every moment, Lord, I need 
The merit of thy death.' 

But from sin, that which offends our Father, 
that which hides his face from us, we are saved. 
We can, therefore, use and feel the words, 

" Every moment, Lord, I have, 
The merit of thy death." 

The fear of God cannot do this. It is a good 
thing. It is the beginning of wisdom, but not 
the end of it. It is not strong enough to de- 
stroy the inward pollution of the soul — 

" Love only can the conquest win, 
The strength of sin subdue.'* 



22 All for Christ. 

Fire, when it glows with intense heat, will 
melt iron, steel, glass, the granite rocks. So 
love to Jesus will melt and draw out every 
moral stain. Anger, self-will, envy, love of 
the world, disappear, and our hearts lovingly 
turn to Christ as our complete Saviour. Sad, 
indeed, it is to hear any one contend that Ave 
cannot cease from sin, as we read the inspired 
description of such a state : — 

^' But these, as natural brute beasts, made to 
be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the 
things that they understand not ; and shall ut- 
terly perish in their own corruption ; and shall 
receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they 
that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time. 
Spots they are and blemishes, sporting them- 
selves with their own deceivings while they 
feast with you ; having eyes full of adultery, 
and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling un- 
stable souls/' 

5. Y^xi^oX, peace fills the soul. The Spirit's 
witness of our acceptance now becomes not 
only clear and triumphant, as it was often 
before, but constant — 

*' Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river/' 



Perfect Love — What it Is. 23 

As the river rolls deeper and wider toward its 
mouth, so the peace of the purified soul 
flows on, not in impeded ripples, like the 
brook in its course, but smooth and strong 
until it reaches the ocean of Divine Love in 
heaven. The precious promise is then ful- 
filled, ^^ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
whose mind is stayed on thee." In the words 
of John Bunyan, ^^ We are out of reach of 
Giant Despair, and out of sight of Doubting 
Castle.'' Now days and weeks pass, and 

" Not a doubt doth arise to darken the skies, 
Or hide for a moment my Lord from mine eyes ; 
In him I am blest, I lean on his breast, 
And lo ! in his wounds I continue to rest." 

6. Fullness o( joy is the climax. The Chris- 
tian rejoices in God all through his pilgrimage 
from the very first moment in which his sins 
are forgiven. It is always true what Nehemiah 
said to the Jews, ^' The joy of the Lord is your 
strength.*' 

How often we forget this sentiment, and 
go heavily, heartlessly about our Christian du- 
ties ! Joy is strength. It is our strength. 
But there is a greater height of joy contem-. 



24 All for Christ. 

plated by the Saviour than that which we re- 
ceive in conversion. It is described in the 
words, ^' Hitherto have ye asked nothing in 
my name ; ask and j/e shall receive, that your 
joy may h^full'' " These things have I spoken 
unto you, that myy<^/ might remain in you," 
the joy already possessed by them. Then, as 
he looks to something higher, he repeats the 
idea, ^^That your joy might ho full'' ^^And 
now come I to Thee, and these things I speak 
in the world, that they might have my joy ful- 
filled in themselves^ This is the ^^joy un- 
speakable and full of glory '' spoken of by 
Peter as bestowed upon those who received 
the '^ end of their faith, even the salvation of 
their souls ;'* a salvation from sin, according 
to the words which he uses in the same con- 
nection : ^^ But as he which hath called you is 
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversa- 
tion ; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I 
am holy.'' 

These are only some of the fruits of perfect 
love. They are sufficient to show that it is a 
blessing distinct from justification. They are 
both blessings of the same nature — both con- 



Perfect Love — What it Is. 25 

sist in love to God and man ; but one is the 
commencement of it in the heart, the other is 
when the intellect and will are so educated 
and molded that the Saviour reigns supremely 
and constantly in the soul. 

If you are a sincere Christian, and deny the 
possibility of being freed from sin in this life, 
the controversy between us may be a mere ver- 
bal one. Your definition of sin may be different 
from ours. What is sin ? We reply, in the words 
of John Wesley, '' A voluntary transgression 
of a known law." You reply, *^Nay, but all 
transgressions of the law of God, whether vol- 
untary or involuntary, are sin ; for St. John 
says, Silt is a transgression of the law' '' 
" True, but he does not say. All transgression 
of the law is sin. You say. None are saved 
from sin, {in your sense of the word^ but I do 
not admit of that sense, because the word is 
never so taken in Scripture. And you cannot 
deny the possibility of being saved from sin in 
my sense of the word. And this is the sense 
wherein the word sin is over and over taken 

in Scripture.*' 
4 



26 All for Christ. 



CHAPTER III. 

RELATIONS OF PERFECT LOVE TO METHODISM 
AND OTHER FORMS OF CHRISTIANITY. 

SHALL we neglect that salvation for which 
our Saviour so earnestly prayed ? Shall 
we make light of that which lay so deeply 
upon the heart of our Lord and Master during 
those hours which preceded his agony and 
crucifixion? If he is able to ^^save to the ut- 
termost," shall we practically deny it ? No, let 
us rather imitate the devoted men and women 
who, amid the jeers, the scorn, and persecution 
of the world, plowed up the fallow ground, and 
sowed the seed of the great tree under which 
we are so pleasantly resting. 

This was the doctrine which our fathers in 
the Church preached and lived. It was their 
specialty. It was the object of Methodism. 
We cannot read the first page of our Discipline 
without seeing this fact. We are there told 
that, ''in 1729, two young men in England, 



Relatiojts of Perfect Love to Methodism. 27 

reading the Bible, saw they could not be 
saved without holiness ; followed after it, and 
incited others so to do. In 1737 they saw 
likewise that men are justified before they 
are sanctified ; but still holiness was their ob- 
ject. God then thrust them out to raise 2. holy 
people." 

It was of this grace that John Wesley v/rote 
the following memorable words : — 

'' This doctrine is the grand depositum which 
God has lodged with the people called Meth- 
odists, and for the sake of propagating this, 
chiefly, he appeared to have raised us up/' 
. . . ^^ When it is not strongly and explicitly 
preached there is seldom any remarkable 
blessing of God, and consequently little addi- 
tion to the Society and little life in the mem- 
bers of it. Speak and spare not.'! . . . ** Let 
not regard to any man induce you to betray 
the truth of God." . . . ** Till you press be- 
lievers to expect full salvation now you must 
not look for any revival." . , . ''That point, 
entire salvation from inbred sin, can hardly 
ever be insisted upon in preaching or prayer 
without a particular blessing." 



28 All for Christ. 

Our bishops, in their Episcopal Address 
say, '' We beheve that God*s design in raising 
up the preachers called Methodists in America 
was to reform the continent and spread script- 
ural holiness over these lands.'* 

It is to keep preachers in mind of this that 
every one of them is asked, in every Confer- 
ence throughout our whole Church, before he 
is received into full connection, '' Are you 
going on to perfection? Do you expect to 
be made perfect in love in this life ? Are you 
groaning after it ? " And we have all answered 
in the affirmative. But how many of us are 
not groaning and wrestling with God for it as 
we expected to have done ! How many of us 
are no nearer to it than we were when we took 
upon ourselves the solemn obligation ! When 
shall we fulfill our vows ? Are we not waiting, 
like the impenitent sinner, in the vague hope 
that something will turn up as we draw near 
death which will accomplish it in our hearts ? 

Thank God, we are not alone in the great 
work of spreading scriptural holiness ! Sincere 
and earnest Christians of all denominations are 
pleading for it. John Bunyan was a Baptist, 



Relations of Perfect Love to Metlwdism, 29 

and, theoretically, in some of his works asserts 
that in this Hfe a Christian cannot be com- 
pletely saved from sin. But when he wrote, 
in Bedford jail, the higher experience of his 
Christian Pilgrim, the truth flashed intuitively 
upon him. He paints his land of Beulah on 
this side of the river of death. No one could 
enter the Celestial City unless he first passed 
through that realm of beauty, song, and music. 
There, the ^' air was very sweet and pleasant.'* 
There, ^^ they heard continually the singing of 
birds, and saw every day the flowers appear in 
the earth, and heard the voice of the turtle in 
the land. In this .country the sun shineth 
night and day ; wherefore this was beyond the 
valley of the shadow of death.*' ^* Here they 
were within sight of the city they were going 
to ; also here met them some of the inhabitants 
thereof; for in this land the shining ones com- 
monly walked, because it was upon the borders 
of heaven. In this land also the contract be- 
tween the Bride a^td Bridegroom was re7iewed. 
Here all the inhabitants of the country called 
them the holy people!' What is this but the 
very blessing of perfect love ! 



39 All for Christ. 

Again, in his '^ Holy War/' he repeats the 
same sentiment. ^^ When Immannel had driven 
Diabolus and all his forces out of the city of 
Mansoul, Diabolus preferred a petition to Im- 
manuel, that he might have only a small part 
of the city. When this was rejected, he begged 
to have only a little room within the walls.'' 
But Immanuel answered, '^ He should have no 
place in it at all, no, not to rest the sole of his 
foot." Here is salvation from all sin again. 

Fenelon and Madame Guyon were Roman 
Catholics, yet, in the midst of error and perse- 
cution, holiness was their theme. The Epis- 
copalian prays, ^' Cleanse the thoughts of our 
hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, 
that we may perfectly love thee and worthily 
magnify thy holy name." And so in every 
denomination, wherever there is a soul alive to 
God, wherever there is a soul retaining justify- 
ing grace, it is always hungering and thirsting 
after righteousness, that it may be filled. 

In the beautiful village of D., in the central 
part of the State of New York, there was a 
Presbyterian family. We knew them well for 
years. They were more interested in the doc- 



Relations of Perfect Love to Methodism, 31 

trine of perfect love than any Methodist in the 
village. 

On their tables lay the works of our authors 
on holiness. They loved it, believed it, talked 
about it, and lived it. They were the salt of 
their own Church and of the whole com- 
munity. Their children were converted young, 
and grew up devoted men and women, and 
members of the Church. 

In this our day ministers and faithful Chris- 
tians are beginning to see more and more, 
eye to eye, and in all Churches to realize the 
great things which God, in his word, has prom- 
ised to do for us. There may be differences in 
our definitions, differences in our mode of rea- 
soning; but who will contend about these as 
long as the soul is panting for the full salvation 
of Christ ? We ask no stronger statement of 
the power of our adorable Master to save from 
sin than that which was given, not long 
since, by an eloquent Congregational divine 
of Brooklyn : — 

" There is power in the Divine Spirit to en- 
franchise the heart, and lead it higher and 
higher to a clear and perfect vision. Whether 



32 All for Christ, 

or not we yield ourselves to this leading, there 
is provision for it. If you put your hand 
upon your heart and say, ' FU die, but I'll 
have it;' if you look and long and try every 
door, and desire it above all other things, it is 
yours, it is yours/' 



Consecration, 33 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONSECRATION — CONVERSION AND ENTIRE 
SANCTIFICATION CONTRASTED. 

HOW shall we seek perfect love? There 
are various ways in which it may be 
sought, but our object in this work is to speak 
only of one, and we, therefore, reply, By a re- 
newed consecration, or the giving our hearts 
and lives afresh to Christ, with all the fullness 
which the light of our past Christian experi- 
ence shows that he requires* 

The reader must, however, bear in mind 
that consecration, at any stage of our experi- 
ence, is never sanctification in its primary 
meaning. The first is the act of the creature, 
the other of the Creator. This is well illus- 
trated in the case of Solomon^s temple. It was 
consecrated, in its dedication by the priests ; 
afterward it was filled by the presence of God. 
So the Christian first consecrates his heart. It 

is afterward filled by the Spirit. But the word 
5 



34 All for Christ. 

sanctification is sometimes used in a secondary 
sense, and then it means only consecration. 
We have an example of both of these significa- 
tions in the twentieth chapter of Leviticus, 
seventh and eighth verses, *^ Sanctify yourselves 
therefore, and be ye holy : for I am the Lord 
your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, 
and do them : I am the Lord which sanctify 
you." Here, in verse seven, to sanctify our- 
selves means the consecration which we make, 
or the setting ourselves apart to the sacred 
service of God ; in verse eight it is the work 
which God performs in us. The latter is the 
primary sense of the word sanctification, and 
it is thus we use it. When, therefore, we are 
describing consecration or renewed consecra- 
tion, we are speaking of a different thing from 
entire sanctification or perfect love. One con- 
stitutes the means, the other the result. 

A perfect consecration must always precede 
the reception of a pure heart. There may be 
many consecrations after conversion at differ- 
ent timeSj but none of them may reach up 
to the standard of perfect love. How many 
times sincere brethren dedicate them_selves 



Consecration. 35 

afresh during revival services and watch- 
nights, as well as at the. Lord's supper, and 
how few of those find themselves, afterward, 
in the actual enjoyment of full salvation ! 
Because the consecration was partial, incom- 
plete ; not intentionally so, but from a want 
of carefully considering the fresh obligations 
revealed to them during their past Christian 
experience, or else from the actual want of 
knowledge of such obligations. 

All men, therefore, are not to be indiscrimi- 
nately blamed for not enjoying perfect love. 
They are to be blamed for not seeking it, be- 
cause all Christians are commanded to go on to 
perfection. But a certain amount of knowl- 
edge, after conversion, is necessary to its at- 
tainment. As we seek the blessing we gain 
the knowledge, until faith grasps the prize, and 
the Holy Spirit testifies to the completion of 
the work. We consecrate ourselves again and 
again, expecting each time we do so that our 
faith, which is the evidence of things not seen, 
will behold the sacrifice accepted, and our 
hearts purified. Thus is fulfilled the saying 
of Scripture, ^' sanctified by faith," not by 



36 All for Christ. 

consecration, until faith reveals its fullness ; 
and ^'sanctified by the Holy Ghost," as the 
efficient agent, answering to the faith which 
we exercise. The question whether perfect 
love is a gradual or instantaneous work is thus 
settled. Our progress toward it is gradual, 
but it must be expected instantaneously, and is 
wrought within us instantaneously, just as 
the forgiveness of our sins is expected and 
wrought in us. We must expect it at once or 
we shall never obtain it. We must look for it 
the very instant that we are praying, just as 
Columbus looked momentarily and earnestly, 
from the deck of his tempest-tossed vessel, for 
the western continent he was seeking. In the 
midst of a mutinous crew who threatened to 
turn about his ship*s prow and render all his 
previous labor useless, with intense longing 
his eyes sought the land, and, as he suddenly 
caught a glimpse of it, transported with joy, 
he named it San Salvador — Holy Saviour. So 
when we are able by faith to see a holy Saviour 
and appropriate not only his merits, but his 
strength, we gain the victory, and the work is 
accomplished. Looking for it, expecting it 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification, 37 

every instant, as we pray, our approach to it 
is a gradual work, but there is a moment when 
we receive it — a moment in which our souls are 
fully sanctified. 

Sanctification is, therefore, gradual. It is 
going on all the time that we are alive to God. 
But entire sanctification, like the voice to 
Elijah or the sound from heaven on the day 
of pentecost, whether it come as a rushing, 
mighty vv^ind, or in the still, small voice, is 
effected at a point of time which will be 
memorable in our history throughout all the 
ages of eternity. 

At the time of our conversion we give up 
all to Christ, as far as w^e know. But God, in 
his loving-kindness, does not show us the full 
extent of the sacrifice which his law requires. 
If he did so, a sinner who is without love to 
warm his heart would shrink from an assump- 
tion of the task. We learn afterward, as love 
to Christ increases and our spiritual powers 
grow stronger, that his commandment is ex^ 
ceeding broad. It was so with our Lord's 
disciples. After he had told them that the 
Comforter should come, and should reprove 



38 All for Christ. 

the world, that is, unconverted men, of sin, of 
righteousness, and of judgment, there was 
something that the same Spirit was to do also 
for them. He said to them^ to those who 
already loved him, who had enjoyed his teach- 
ing for years, ^^ I have yet many things to say 
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now, How- 
beit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truths That Spirit, 
already with them in his ordinary offices, 
showed them, during those well-nigh fifty 
days which elapsed between the resurrection 
and the day of pentecost, their relations to 
Christ and to the world at a time when they 
were beginning to live for him without his 
constant, personal presence, and, after a com- 
prehensive, complete consecration had been 
made by them in accordance with such knowl- 
edge, the sanctifying power of the same Spirit 
entered their souls on the day of pentecost, 
and they were filled with perfect love. He 
came then with more energy than in those 
convicting, enlightening, converting, sanctify- 
ing influences which were experienced by 
every child of God under the Old Testament 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification, 39 

dispensation. He came at the day of pente-» 
cost to touch their lips with holy fire^ of which 
the cloven tongues were emblems, and to en- 
lighten their minds as to "all truth," which it 
was necessary for them to understand in order 
to preach the Gospel and to live fully for him. 
This baptism of pentecost could not have 
been their conversion. This must have taken 
place before Christ died. How could it have 
been otherwise ? He himself had associated 
with them for three years and a half; had 
called them his disciples, his friends, his breth- 
ren, and had even sent them out to preach. 
All this precludes the idea that they were yet 
in their sins. Neither could they have been 
fully sanctified before the death of Jesus, be- 
cause perfect love casteth out fear. This full- 
ness of love they could not then have pos- 
sessed, for when he was taken in the garden 
they all forsook him and fled. The much- 
loved John stood by, a tame witness of the 
mocking and scourging of his Lord, and looked 
up silently as he writhed upoii the cross. The 
blows of the hammer, while the nails pierced 
his hands and feet, produced no expostulation 



40 All for Christ. 

as far as we can learn. When we think of 
John afterward, in the wondrous visions of 
Patmos, we feel the least he could have done 
would have been to cast himself upon the 
cross as they nailed Jesus to it, and to ask to 
suffer in his stead. He was just in the condi- 
tion in which too many have found them- 
selves, paralyzed by the fear of man. Peter, 
bold Peter, who said he would die for him, 
who drew his sword and cut off the ear of 
Malchus in the first transport of righteous in- 
dignation, when he found himself in the midst 
of the crowd who were clamoring for the blood 
of Jesus, quailed before the high-priest's maid- 
servant, and swore that he did not know 
Christ. 

Now look at these same men after their re- 
newed consecration — after they had received 
the Pentecostal fire. They stood in the Jewish 
temple, and boldly preached Christ until they 
were arrested and cast into prison. The next 
morning they were brought before Annas and 
Caiaphas, the very men who had condemned 
Jesus, and Peter rose up and boldly charged 
them with his death. 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification. 41 

'* Whom ye crucified, whom God raised from 
the dead. . . . This is the stone which was set 
at naught of you builders which is become the 
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation 
in any other: for there is none other name 
under heaven given among men, whereby we 
must be saved." And when they were pub- 
licly whipped for preaching Christ, they de- 
parted from a scene which had branded them 
with eternal infamy in the eyes of the world, 
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to 

suffer shame for his name. 
6 



42 All for Christ. 



CHAPTER V. 

LIFE CONSECRATED. 

^^ T F I should die with thee, I will not deny 
-■- thee in any wise. Likewise also said 
they all." And they never flinched from this 
determination after the day of pentecost. That 
Peter faltered in his decision previously to his 
being endued with power from on high, does 
not show that the Saviour required any less 
consecration than the consecfation of the life, 
but that Peter lacked Divine strength. Christ 
requires of us a readiness at any moment to 
lay down our lives for him— to die as the mar- 
tyrs died, if it please him to call us thus to suffer 
-^ — to die by contagious disease if, in the perform- 
ance of some duty to a suffering neighbor, we 
should contract it — to die in the defense of 
our country, neighbors, or families if it should 
become necessary, This is the point we are 
dwelling on now, and not on the consecration 



Life Consecrated, 43 

of time or the dedication of our future years 
to labor for God. 

"' In the village of Ragenbach, one afternoon, 
a company of people sat conversing together, 
among whom was the village blacksmith, a 
strong and vigorous man. All at once the door 
sprung open, and a large dog came staggering 
into the room — a great, strong, powerful beast, 
with a ferocious, frightful aspect. His head 
was hanging down, and his eyes bloodshot, his 
red-colored tongue hanging half way out of 
his mouth, and his tail dropped between his 
legs. Thus the ferocious beast entered the 
room, out of which there was no escape but 
by one door. Scarcely had the smith's neigh- 
bors seen the animal when they sprung up 
and exclaimed, ' The dog is mad ! ' 

'' Then arose an outcry ! The room was full 
of men and women, and the foaming beast 
stood before the only entrance ; no one could 
leave without passing him. He snapped sav- 
agely right and left. All rose up and shrunk 
from the furious dog with agonizing counte- 
nances. Who should deliver them from him ? 
The smith stood among them, and as he saw 



44 All for Christ. 

the anguish of the people it flashed across his 
mind how many of his happy and contented 
neighbors would be made miserable by the 
dog, and he formed a resolution, the like of 
which is scarcely to be found in the history of 
the human race for high-mindedness and no- 
bleness* Certainly his brown cheek paled a 
little, but his eyes sparkled with Divine fire, 
and an elevated resolution shone from the 
smooth brow of the simple-minded man. 

** * Back, all ! ' thundered he, with his deep, 
strong voice. * One victim must fall in order 
to save all, and I will be that victim ; I will 
hold him, and while I do so make your escape.' 
The smith had scarcely spoken these words 
when the dog started toward the shrieking 
people. But he went not far. ' With God's 
help ! ' cried the smith, and he rushed upon the 
foaming brute, seized hirn with an iron grasp, 
and dashed him to the floor. 

** O, what a terrible struggle followed! The 
dog bit furiously on every side in a most 
frightful manner. His long teeth tore the 
arms of the heroic smith, but he would not 
let him loose. Regardless alike of the ex« 



Life Consecrated. 45 

cessive pain, and the horrible death which 
must ensue, he held down, with an iron grasp, 
the snapping, biting, howling brute, until all 
had escaped, till all were rescued and in 
safety. He then flung the half-strangled beast 
from him against the wall, and, dripping with 
blood and venomous foam, he left the room, 
locking the door after him. Some persons 
shot the dog through the windows. But what 
will become of the brave, unfortunate smith? 

^* Weeping and lamenting, the people sur- 
round him who had saved their lives at the 
expense of his own* ' Be quiet, my friends, 
do not weep for m.e, for I have only performed 
my duty. When I am dead think of me with 
love, and now pray for me that God will not 
let me suffer long or too much. I will take 
care that no further mischief shall occur 
through me, for I must certainly become 
mad/ He went straight to his workshop and 
selected a long chain, the heaviest and firmest 
from his whole stock. He then, with his own 
hands, welded it upon his own limbs and 
around the anvil so firmly that no power on 
earth could break it. ' There,' said he, ' it's 



46 All for Christ. 

done/ after silently and solemnly completing 
the work. * Now you are secure, I am inof- 
fensive. So long as I live bring me my food. 
The rest I leave to God ; into his hands I 
commend my spirit.' Nothing could save 
the brave smith ; neither tears, lamentations, 
nor prayers. Madness seized him, and after 
nine days he died ; but truly he died only to 
awake to a more beautiful and glorious life at 
the right hand of God. He died, but his 
memory will live from generation to genera- 
tion, and will be venerated to the end of time. 

"Search history through, and you will find 
no action more glorious and sublime than the 
deed of this simple-minded man, the smith of 
Ragenbach. It is easy for noble minds to die, 
like Martins Curtius, the high-spirited Roman 
youth ; but to go to the sacrifice with the cer- 
tainty of death, and, moreover, to wait a death 
so awful during long, fearful hours and days, 
that is to die not once, but a thousand times. '* 

He was a hero, but only carried out the sim- 
ple precepts of Christianity. Centuries ago, 
and long after the establishment of Christian- 
ity, the gladiator fought his fellow-men in the 



Life Consecrated, 47 

arena of queenly Rome, and hundreds, thou- 
sands of victims were thus '' butchered to make 
a Roman hoHday." In the other chief cities 
of the empire these spectacles were no less fre- 
quent, and formed the national amusement of 
the people. Fair women sat in the crowded 
theater, and applauded or frowned as the life- 
blood of one or the other combatant stained 
the ground. We are told that one heroic man 
gave his life for the nation about the begin- 
ning of the fifth century, and caused a sup- 
pression throughout the whole empire of the 
cruel sport. On a certain day, while the bar- 
barous spectacle was in progress at Rome, the 
audience beheld a rough, coarsely-dressed man 
spring into the arena and thrust himself be- 
tween the combatants, trying to force them to 
desist. The rage of the people knew no 
bounds at the interruption. The gladiators 
themselves, whom he had commiserated, cut 
at the defenseless intruder with their swords, 
'* and the spectators overwhelmed him with a 
shower of stones. When he was dead they 
began to ask who he Vv^as. The natural revul- 
sion of feeling followed lawless violence, and 



48 All for Christ. 

when they saw by his dress that he was a man 
of God, a superstitious dread of the conse- 
quences of such rash conduct took possession 
of them. All that could be ascertained about 
him was, that he had come from Asia, that his 
name was Telemachus — some said Alymachus 
— and that, horrified at the spectacle which 
crowned the festivities of a Roman gala day, 
he had resolved to stop the games or die in 
the attempt. Emperor and people were deep- 
ly impressed by the self-sacrifice of the man; 
for the kind of bravery which the gladiatorial 
games fostered was a very different thing from 
this Christian self-sacrifice ; it was hardness, 
not heroism. And so the poor, unknown 
stranger, from the wilds of Asia, did what no 
emperor had ventured to do before him ; he 
stopped the games, for the public feeling was 
so strong in reference to his death that, when 
an edict was issued forbidding such conflicts, 
it met with no opposition. There was never 
another fight of gladiators at Rom.e, and the 
custom was speedily abolished throughout the 
empire.'' Thus one man who gave his life for 
his fellow-men did what, perhaps, nothing else 



Life Consecrated. 49 

would have done. We are not called to put 
our lives in jeopardy by such a test, but there 
are other tests for us. What multitudes died 
for their country in her late struggle ! What 
multitudes have lost their lives in heroic en- 
deavors to save others in peril by shipwreck, 
by fire, by sickness, and otherwise ! And who 
can tell how many of these were influenced by 
true Christian principle ? 

This is the love of which Christ speaks when 
he says, *' A new commandment I give unto 
you, that ye love one another ; as I have loved 
you, that ye also love one another." How 
often this precept is perverted, and cited, as if 
it meant simply to love one another without 
specifying the degree of love ! How often it 
is mutilated by quoting the first part and leav- 
ing out the second ! Why, it is not a new 
commandment at all, and never was, if it only 
means to love each other. Heathen sages 
told their disciples to do so long before Jesus 
came. But it is new in its degree of love. 
Christ commands us to love each other as he 
loved us ; to hold our lives in our hands, ready 
to give them up for our brethren if necessary ; 



50 All for Christ. 

ready, therefore, to sacrifice all lesser interests, 
such as feelings and personal animosities, for 
his dear sake. 

St. John, who drank so deeply into the 
Saviour's spirit, takes up this subject, and 
says : '' Beloved, let us love one another ; for 
love is of God ; and every one that loveth is 
born of God, and knoweth God," whether he 
may have attained to perfect love or not. 
*' He that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for 
God is love. In this was manifested the love 
of God toward us, because that God sent his 
only begotten Son into the world, that we 
might live through him. Herein is love, not 
that we loved God, but that God loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought 
also to love one another," in that same degree 
which is expressed in the sixteenth verse of 
the preceding chapter: ^^ Hereby perceive we 
the love of God, because he laid down his life 
for us : and we ought to lay down our lives 
for the brethren." What a cure for hard feel- 
ings. Coldness, and discord in every Church it 
would be if the brethren were thus ready to 



Life Consecrated, 51 

lay down their lives for each other ! What a 
power each Church would possess if all its 
members obeyed the Saviour's new command- 
ment ! In this very way St. John approaches 
the doctrine of perfect love. 

'' Beloved, if God so loved us/' without see- 
ing any thing lovable in us, we are to love our 
brethren irrespective of their worth and their 
feelings toward us. We love for God's sake, 
and then, in the language of an eminent com- 
mentator, ^^ no unkind carriage of a brother 
w^ould induce us to withdraw our love from 
him : for if it have God for its motive and 
model, it wdll never fail." 

^^ No man hath seen God at any time," so as 
to behold the greatness of his love, but Christ 
has revealed it, and ^^ if we love another" 
thus, ^' God dwelleth in us, and his love is per- 
fected in us," and ^^ hereby know w^e that w^e 
dwell " thus '' in him, and he in us, because he 
hath given us of his Spirit" to testify with 
ours when the work is completed. " Herein is 
our love made perfect that we may have bold- 
ness in the day of judgment," and ''perfect 
love casteth out fear/' 



52 All for Christ, 



CHAPTER VL 

FEELINGS CONSECRATED. 

WE choose to employ the word ^^ feelings *' 
as expressive of the emotions of our 
heart, because it conveys in a popular sense 
our meaning. When our feelings are engaged, 
what we do for God we do heartily, gladly, un- 
reluctantly, and not under a mere sense of 
duty. We suppose the apostle had some such 
idea as this in view when he said, '^ Though I 
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and 
though I give my body to be burned, and have 
not charity, (love,) it profiteth me nothing/' 
A man might spend his fortune in doing good, 
and close his life at the stake, under a sense of 
duty, as, no doubt, many heathens have done, 
without the warm feeling of love to God. We 
do not mean, however, that we are to neglect 
duty because we think we have no feeling. 
Many a Christian, in whose heart the fires of 
God*s love are slumbering, in attempting to 
bear some cross, finds that the flames break 



Feelings Consecrated, 53 

out as he proceeds, and when it is performed 
his whole soul is aglow. Until we reach the 
state of perfect love, and even then, some- 
times, we must often lean on a sense of duty 
in undertaking Christian work. But, when 
undertaken, if there is feeling in the heart, it 
will generally aw^ake to spur us on. Whether 
it do so or not we must act, until the time 
comes when love shall fill the heart. There 
will always be the yoke to bear and the burden 
to carry, but, as we have already said, when 
Christ has given us perfect rest, the yoke will 
be easy and the burden light. The discipline 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church has care- 
fully guarded this point when it says that we 
are to trample under foot the enthusiastic doc- 
trine that we are not to do good unless our 
hearts be free to do it. Neither do we mean 
that we should rely upon feeling as a guide to 
Christian duty, but simply that in what or 
whom we like or dislike we may consecrate 
ourselves to Christ, and ask in earnest prayer 
that the Spirit of the omnipotent God shall 
breathe upon our feelings and mold them into 
conformity with his own. 



54 All for Christ. 

It may be said that if the will of the Chris- 
tian be consecrated, it includes the feelings. 
Of course this is a manifest truism. Not only 
is it such, but if the will be given to God, 
every thing else that we can name is given, — 
the whole is given. But the difficulty is, to 
see clearly what, and how much, the will in- 
cludes, and this is the very point at which we 
are aiming. The sinner gives his will to Christ 
when he is converted, as far as he has light, and 
we are trying to throw light on all that hangs 
upon the will. 

It is hard for us to love what we naturally 
hate. It is hard for us to hate what we natu- 
rally love. We have often felt it a difficult 
task to love those who were constantly ill- 
treating and maligning us, and have struggled 
hard to hate the unlawful pleasures which 
tempt us, or the intoxicating cup which in- 
ebriates us. But there is a power which can 
make a complete change in all our feelings. 
He who created the soul, with all its won- 
drous faculties, can not only forgive, but so 
completely change it that every feeling will be 
right. Perhaps the very last step of this vics 



Feelings Consecrated. 55 

tory is when we find our feelings warm and 
tender as injuries are heaped upon us. Per- 
haps the very next step may be the entrance 
into perfect love. So it would appear from 
what our Saviour says in his sermon on the 
mount. That chapter concludes with the 
words : *' Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father w^hich is in heaven is perfect." 

As a preparation for this state of grace, he 
says : — 

'^ Resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite 
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other 
also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, 
and take away thy coat," if it be a small mat- 
er which neither involves your own serious in- 
terests nor those of your family, such as a coat 
or cloak, ^' let him have thy cloak also. And 
whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go 
wath him twain. Give to him that asketh 
thee, and from him that w^ould borrow of thee 
turn not thou away," wherever a paramount 
duty does not forbid it. ^' Ye have heard that 
it hath been said. Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto 
3^ou, Love your enemies, bless them that curse 



56 All for Christ. 

you, do good to them that hate you, and pray 
for them which despitefully use you, and perse- 
cute you ; that ye may be the children of your 
Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and 
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 
For if ye love them which love you, what re- 
ward have ye? do not even the publicans 
the same? And if ye salute your brethren 
only, what do ye more than others ? do not 
even the publicans so?*' 

The next step to this is perfect love, for the 
Saviour immediately adds : '^ Be ye therefore 
perfect.** 

There is no more beautiful illustration of this 
doctrine in all the literature of Christianity 
than that given by Jesus himself After the 
Jews had nailed him to the cross, as it lay 
stretched upon the ground, and just as they 
elevated it, his hands and feet feeling the first 
agonizing strain of his own weight — at this 
very moment, if we read the account of Luke 
correctly, he cried, ^^ Father, forgive them ; for 
they know not what they do.'* 

When our feelings toward others are thus 



Feelings Consecrated. 57 

consecrated, accepted, sanctified, the exhibi- 
tion of such a state of grace forms one of the 
most effective arguments in favor of Christian- 
ity. Its possessor holds a power over the op- 
posers of reHgion which is irresistible. 

A young minister was making a visit to one 
of the members of his Church who was con- 
fined to her bed by sickness. Her husband 
was in the room, and without any provocation 
he commenced against the preacher a tirade 
of abuse, in which w^as mingled offensive names 
and the most insulting epithets. The young 
man said nothing, listened without betraying 
the least resentment, and then bowed down 
and prayed for the suffering woman and her 
then silent husband. Only a few weeks after- 
w^ard he was sent for on behalf of the re- 
viler, whom he found with his head bowed 
on the table in bitter mourning for his sins, but 
especially the sin of having causelessly uttered 
the vile words to which we have referred. It 
was early in the morning, and such was the 
acuteness of his convictions of wrong that he 
had passed a sleepless night, and could not rest 

until he had made all the amends he was able 
8 



58 All for Christ. 

to make by an apology to the minister. He 
sought earnestly peace with God, and in a 
short time professed conversion. Here was 
the effect of the power of long-suffering pa- 
tience. 

At a camp-meeting, while sinners were com- 
ing forward to the altar, a young lady was 
asked by a clergyman to present herself thus 
as a seeker of salvation. A gentleman, who 
was near, and who proved to be her brother-in- 
law, advanced with a haughty look and imperi- 
ous gesture, saying, ^' Let her alone, sir ; you 
have no business to speak to or meddle with 
my sister.'' 

The clergyman did not walk away coldly, 
much less did he offer to urge the young lady 
further, but turned kindly toward the opposer, 
and, with flowing tears, begged him to yield his 
heart to Christ, explaining to him his need of 
a Saviour, and ended by urging the haughty 
man to go himself to the altar of prayer. He 
did not go, but anger speedily disappeared 
from his countenance, and as they parted, each 
shook cordially the other's hand with almost a 
promise on the young man's part to become a 



Feelings Consecrated, 59 

Christian. A few weeks only had elapsed, 
when, in a crowded assembly, that same cler- 
gyman baptized that haughty man and his wife, 
and received them into the Church of God. 
Family prayer, which was immediately estab- 
lished by him, and other unmistakable fruits 
of a new heart, gave evidence that his conver- 
sion was genuine. 

Many of us are familiar with the circum- 
stance of the slave whose blood so often flowed 
under the lash of a cruel master, but who, 
with a Christ-like spirit, persevered, in meek- 
ness and long-suffering, until the hard heart 
of his persecutor was softened, and he became 
a follower of that Saviour who bestowed such 
grace upon the humble bondsman. The fact 
is, that he whose feelings are thus consecrated 
and sanctified by the Spirit of God, as he suf- 
fers persecution for the Saviour, has in his 
hands a weapon stronger than logic to disarm 
and to convince his enemy. May we not even 
suppose that when Stephen died so gloriously, 
looking up to the opened heavens, beneath the 
stones of the infuriate Jews, praying with his 
last words, ^' Lord, lay not this sin to their 



6o All for Christ. 

charge/' the first seeds of his subsequent 
grand career were sown in the heart of that 
young man at whose feet the martyr's clothes 
were laid, as he witnessed the patience, the 
love, of the dying minister of Christ? That 
young man's name was Saul. He was after- 
ward the Apostle Paul. O Christian brother, 
if you cannot cordially forgive and love your 
erring brother in the Church, or in the world, 
you need a consecration of your feelings to 
Him who can impress upon them his own like- 
ness, as it was exhibited on the cross, and that 
of Stephen as he fell beneath the blows of the 
angry Jewish people. 



Time Consecrated. 6i 



CHAPTER VII. 

TIME CONSECRATED. 

THERE was a remarkable sentence penned 
by Charlotte Corday shortly after she as- 
sassinated the infamous Marat, and only a day 
or two before she died by the guillotine, '^ I 
have never esteemed life save for its utility." 
This is the true estimate, and we might de- 
nominate this chapter " Life Consecrated " if 
it were not that we have considered under that 
head a willingness to die for Christ, and that 
future time given to us on earth seems to ex- 
press more directly our idea. By '' Time Con- 
secrated " we mean every year, every month, 
every day, every moment of our stay here de- 
voted to usefulness, the intention being thus 
to serve God. It is expressed in scriptural 
language by the phrase, '^ Whatsoever ye do, 
do all to the glory of God." On the Sabbath 
we go to his sanctuary, that we may do some- 
thing to advance his cause, either by receiving 
good ourselves, or by setting an example to 



62 All for Christ. 

others. We pray in private that we may ad- 
vance his glory by becoming more fitted for 
his work. We commence Monday morning 
by laboring for the food which shall prolong 
our lives so that we may do something for 
Christ, or to support our families, that they 
may advance his glory, and that our children 
may stand in our places in the same work. 
We watch carefully our constitution that we 
may not overtask it with labor in order that 
our lives may be prolonged for his service. 
We study the means of health and recreation 
that we may keep the beautiful frame which 
God has given us in proper working order. If 
a Christian is worth any thing to the world, it 
is his sacred duty to prolong his life to the ut- 
most limit of usefulness, that he may do the 
most he can for Christ. Hence he who over- 
taxes his brain or his physical powers know- 
ingly is committing suicide, and not doing all 
things to the glory of God. How many thou- 
sands of men in business have died premature- 
ly, simply because they lacked a conscience as 
to the mode of using time ! How many min- 
isters, instead of adopting the rule of doing all 



Time Co7isecrated, 63 

things for the glory of God, have blinded their 
eyes to hygienic principles, and cut short their 
days by an effort to do too much \ 

It is the motive which decides the moral 
quality of our actions. A man's life may be a 
useful one to others in many respects, and be 
at the same time a sinful one in the sight of 
God. If the eye be single, the whole body 
shall be full of light ; but if the eye be evil, 
the whole body is full of darkness. When a 
man is converted, he devotes his time unre- 
servedly to God, but does not generally enter 
into particulars as to the mode in which this 
is to be done. It is not long after he finds 
peace, if his soul shall continue in a healthful 
state, that the question comes up, ^^ How shall I 
do most for God in the years which he may 
give me on earth ? " With many a man one of 
the first things which conscience suggests is, 
" Am I called to preach ? " Our Saviour's 
command to all is unconditional, '' Go, preach 
the Gospel." 

Now, while we can preach the Gospel in 
every trade, profession, and business, the most 
comprehensive mode is from the sacred desk, 



64 All for Christ. 

united with private, personal appeals to each 
individual man. The question is not simply, 
''Am I called to the ministry?" but, ''Am 
I as a Christian called to preach in some 
way, excused from the most effective, the 
highest mode of preaching, and what are the 
reasons why I am not bound to preach in the 
fullest sense?" Every man must decide this 
candidly, conscientiously, in the sight of God. 
It has an intimate connection with the whole 
history of his future life, as well as with his 
eternal destiny. Its decision may change all 
his relations in life, and send him forth to new 
scenes and even to distant shores. If he shall 
decide in the affirmative, he is not to wait un- 
til he is thrust out by the Church, for the 
Church may not be attentive to his individual 
case ; but reveal his convictions with frankness 
to the authorities in that particular branch of 
God^s people with whom he maybe connected, 
that he may thus put himself in the way of a 
call from them as well as from God himself. 

If, on the contrary, he shall decide that he 
is excused from preaching as a public teacher, 
then he is to decide the question, in what 



Time Consecrated. 65 

business, trade, or profession he can accom- 
plish most for God ; or being already in a law- 
ful business, trade, or profession, how he can 
carry it on to advance most his Redeemer's 
kingdom. We knew a brother in a large west- 
ern city, a member of the Church, an earnest, 
humble Christian. His trade was that of a 
journeyman carpenter. By degrees he became 
the employer of other men, and the head of a 
workshop of his own. Here he found that his 
increased cares caused increased thought, and 
he began to imagine that this prevented him 
from enjoying as close a communion with God 
as he had once enjoyed. He, therefore, dis- 
missed his hands, so we were informed, re- 
turned to the work of a simple journeyman, 
under the false impression that as such he 
could more acceptably serve God. We need 
hardly say that he made a grave mistake. He 
had, in his position as master, acquired in- 
fluence over others, and that influence, used for 
Christ, opened to him a means of usefulness 
which he did not otherwise possess. He had 
also acquired the power to obtain more mate- 
rial substance, which he could devote to God. 



66 All for Christ. 

These two talents, influence and money, were 
not thus to be thrown away. 

But whether man or woman, young or old, 
the renewed consecration is simply, '' Whatso- 
ever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The 
whole motive of life being changed, we no 
longer live for ourselves but for Christ. There 
is a complete turning away from our own self- 
ish purposes and gratifications, and a deter- 
mination to spend every year, day, and mo- 
ment for God. 

It is not the question whether this or that 
action or way of spending our time be wrong, 
but which course of action will be more for 
the glory of God than an opposite course. 
Here comes up at once the question of amuse- 
ments, which a man may decide, as we have 
already hinted, by the inquiry as to what rec- 
reation is necessary to keep in order his bod- 
ily frame. He is sacredly bound to keep this 
in good health as far as possible, that his life 
may be prolonged for usefulness in Christ's 
kingdom. It is a sin to neglect this. Every 
recreation, therefore, promoting this object, 
which is not evil — which does not encourage, 



Twie Consecrated, 67 

and which has not the appearance of evil, and 
may thus wound the conscience of weaker 
brethren, is lawful and right. There are no 
neutral actions, for "^ whatsoever is not of faith 
is sin." O ! how precious is the rest for the 
soul when we feel that we are doing all things, 
as far as we know, for the glory of our Re- 
deemer, Christ. 

What a perfect guide we have in this conse- 
cration of our time to the glory of God when 
we come to the means of grace! We need 
not speak of private devotion. What Chris- 
tian would ever rise in the morning, or retire 
at night, without earnest prayer on his knees 
to God ! We need not speak of the daily 
study of the sacred volume, or of family prayer, 
or a regular attendance on God's sanctuary. 
He that needs to be reminded of these things 
does not need to be urged to go on to perfec- 
tion, but to lay again the foundation of the 
first principles of religion. Let us come to 
those means of grace which are neglected by so 
many with slight or no compunction of con- 
science. The appointed evening for the prayer 
or class meeting arrives. Governed by the 



68 All for Christ. 

motive we speak of, that every moment of your 
time belongs to God, as well as every thing 
else, you are called upon to decide, not if it be 
wrong to stay away, but which will glorify 
your Father in heaven most, to go or not to 
go. Can I do more good in the encouraging 
of my pastor and brethren by being at my ap- 
pointed place, or by remaining in my house? 
Sometimes you may conscientiously decide on 
the latter. The state of your health or that 
of your family may render it more in accord- 
ance with the Divine will that you should omit 
that particular occasion. But if we should all 
put the matter on the simple ground we have 
stated, which is the only scriptural basis, how 
our social meetings would be thronged, and 
what Pentecostal showers would come upon 
the Church ! Besides, when you have decided 
conscientiously, your motive being right, if 
you stay at home for the glory of God, it brings 
no condemnation on your soul. When we feel 
that all our time is devoted to God in some 
way, and not to our own mere enjoyment, it 
becomes an easy matter to be faithful. We 
recollect a Christian woman, on a Wednesday 



Time Consecrated. 69 

afternoon, was entertaining some visitors who 
had called on her. As the afternoon wore 
away she retired from the room, and in a few 
minutes returned with her hat and shawl. ^^ I 
hope/' said she, ^^you will excuse me for an 
hour. It is the day of my class.'* She left 
her visitors, and when the social meeting was 
over returned to enjoy their society. 

In Bangor, Maine, there was a lady, some 
years ago, and she may be there still, who, 
whenever she was obliged to be absent from 
the appointed means of grace, sent her experi- 
ence in writing. One who had been a mem- 
ber of the Wesleyan Church forty-two years 
said that she had only once willfully neglected 
her class-meeting during that whole period. 
Upon inquiry she gave the following answer as 
to that particular time : — 

'' It was years ago, when I was single at 
home. We had a very large wash, and myself 
and sisters did the ironing, as most young 
people did then. The class-meeting happened 
to come on the ironing-day, in the afternoon, 
and, as we had a mile and a half to walk, 
we thought it would be a tiresome interrupt 



70 All for Christ. 

tion to go, and would hinder us from two 
o'clock till five, just the best part of the day; 
therefore we all agreed to miss it for once, and 
go on with our ironing. 

''As soon as it was too late, we felt we had 
done wrong, and at the end of the week we 
were not so forward with our work as usual. 
We saw that no time had been gained, and we 
all resolved never to do such a thing again, 
but to make every thing give way to the cause 
of God and religion. From that day no work 
or business ever kept us from the house of God." 

A young man, shortly after he joined the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, concluded, as 
the evening approached on which his class- 
meeting was held, to remain at home. He 
had a mile to walk in order to reach the place, 
and, fatigued with the duties of the day, he 
thought it would be a small matter to be ab- 
sent only once. Then he reasoned, '' This is 
once ; it may be the first step in a course of 
backsliding. I will not run the risk of one 
neglect of duty.'' He went, and now, after a 
score of years, looks back upon that evening 
as a momentous period in his history. 



Time Consecrated, 7 1 

It is not all, however, to attend the class- 
meeting or the prayer-meeting. There are 
times, especially in revival services, when the 
people of God seem to be marshaled like sol- 
diers in a battle. At such seasons there are 
brethren and sisters (the latter have becom.e 
extinct in some Churches) on whom the minis- 
ter can rely before the congregation to fill up 
every moment of time by prayer, exhortation, 
and singing. He knows they will come to the 
front and do their part without a m.oment's 
delay. There is no faltering, no waiting to 
get ready. It is too late for a soldier to load 
and prime his musket when he combes face to 
face with the enemy. But the number of 
these brethren is comparatively small. The 
great majority of the Church, like Madame 
Diffidence, the spouse of Giant Despair, in 
Bunyan's Pilgrim, have such an excess of 
modesty that they speak only when they feel 
like it. They pray when they feel like it ; and 
the very time they are needed, when the 
church is full or the meeting likely to drag, 
they do not feel like praying or speaking at 
all. If the pastor attempts to lean on them to 



72 All for Christ. 

carry on a meeting, he is leaning on a broken 
staff. Like Peter before the servant-maid, 
they are paralyzed before a congregation of 
sinners. They need a renewed consecration 
to God — a consecration which will bind them 
with the sacredness of an oath never to fail in 
giving their testimony for Christ, or in lifting 
up their voice in prayer, when the occasion is 
suitable. We remember the resolution of one 
devoted woman, as she declared it publicly. 
It was this : — 

^^ I decided," said she, " many years ago that 
I never would allow a proper opportunity to 
pass without giving a testimony for God.*' 
How can we ever expect Christ to say to us, 
'^ Well done, good and faithful servant," unless 
we are ourselves trying to be faithful in all 
things ? 

We said our time belonged to Christ. 
Blessed thought, that it can be used for him 
in a way that is imperishable ! Joyous pros- 
pect, that the effect of this use will be ap- 
parent in the heavenly world ! Look at this 
principle in laboring for Christ by the way-side, 
in the parlor, in the store, in the v/orkshop, 



Time Consecrated. 73 

wherever we can find a man to whom we can 
speak of Jesus. Not the minister alone, not 
the pubhc preacher alone, but the humble 
Christian every-where, by using his time for 
the glory of God may win souls. And while 
we speak his name, our hearts will burn more 
and more with celestial fire until it will be an 
actual cross to keep silent. *' He that winneth 
souls is wise." How wise is he, then, who will 
make that renewed consecration of his time 
which will prepare him for this work ! The 
first impulse of the newly-born soul is to win 
souls. His first spiritual breath is a wish for 
the conversion of some friend. This wish is a 
Heaven-bestowed gift. The reason why so 
many are cold, indifferent, and dead in this 
work, is because the desire is quenched in- 
stead of being cultivated and improved. 

Living thus for the glory of God, the yoke 
becomes easy and the burden light. We learn 
the full significance of the words, "' Look not 
every man on his own things, but every man 

also on the things of others." 
10 



74 All for Christ, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THOUGHT CONSECRATED. 

SOME one will ask, '' Is it possible that we 
can be entirely pure in thought at all 
times? " The Saviour says, '' Blessed are the 
pure in heart," and he certainly means that 
our thoughts shall be pure, ^' for out of the 
heart proceed evil thoughts." If the source 
be purified, that which proceeds from it must 
partake of a like character. But it is so far 
beyond our conception that it seems sometimes 
impossible. It would be impossible if it were 
to be done by ourselves, but if God is omnip- 
otent he can do it, and he has said, ^^ The 
Lord thy God zaz/l circumcise thine heart and 
the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy 
God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, 
that thou mayest live." Here, then, is evi- 
dently intended direct action on the part of 
God, coupled with this condition: ^' If thou 
shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy 
God to keep his commandments and his stat- 



TJiought Co7tsecrated. 75 

utes, which are written in this book of the 
law, and if thou turn unto the Lord with all 
thine heart and with all thy soul." 

He says again, ^' Then will I sprinkle clean 
water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all 
your filthiness, and from all your idols will I 
clea7tse you. A new heart also will I give you, 
and a new spirit will I put within you : and I 
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, 
and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I 
will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to 
walk in my statutes, I will also save you from 
all your uncleannesses." Here, again, is the 
direct action of God upon the soul. And shall 
we say that he who can by a breath destroy or 
make alive, in whose hand are the spirits of 
all flesh, to mold them, as clay in the hands of 
the potter — shall we say that he cannot make 
our thoughts perfectly pure? But will he do 
it ? It would be a miracle. Will he do it, do 
you ask ? Why, he says he will, as clearly as 
words can express it, whether it be a miracle 
or not. Suppose it is a miracle ; is not every 
sinner's conversion just as much a miracle? 
Are not a thousand answers to prayer mira- 



7(> All for Christ. 

cles ? Is it not preposterous to say, and grant- 
ing to our enemies the whole gist of what we 
maintain as to God's direct agency in the 
world, that the age of miracles is past when we 
see them occurring all around us? Has not 
many a Christian, as his prayer came before 
the throne, seen an Omnipotent Hand inter- 
posing in his favor as clearly as ever Elijah 
saw the fire descend ? Let the materialists 
bind down their god to an eternal obedience 
of physical law. Let them behold him, cold 
in the heavens, chained by a destiny which for- 
bids the displacement of a single atom of mat- 
ter. But ^* their rock is not as our Rock," who 
sees the sparrow as it falls, and numbers the 
hairs of our heads ; whose physical laws of the 
universe are but instruments to subserve his 
great moral purposes ; and who, to save a sin- 
gle soul from destruction, would arrest, as he 
did once, the sun and moon in their course. 
This Almighty Being can do with the soul just 
as he pleases. He can make it pure in an in- 
stant of time, and it is his will to do so. 

Has he not said again, ^'This is the cove- 
nant that I will make with the house of Israel 



Thought Consecrated. yy 

after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my 
laws into their mind, and write them in their 
hearts?" Does not this mean the very 
thoughts of our hearts? And does it not 
mean that God will exert within us his own 
supernatural agency to accomplish the work ? 
But how shall we consecrate our thoughts 
that this glorious effect may be produced in 
our souls ? How must we yield them up so 
that a willing and an all-powerful God shall 
make them pure ? In the same way in which 
we have described the dedication of our time. 
We must decide that thought shall be em- 
ployed for the glory of God. Our thinking 
powers must be devoted to his cause. The 
great conquerors of the world thought for their 
own glory. All that they planned was to glori- 
fy themselves. The man who is seeking wealth 
as his chief aim, thinks of it night and day. 
He devises means by which he may add to 
his store. His thought-power is exhausted in 
this aim. But he who would serve God fully, 
determines to use this faculty for higher pur- 
poses, and thinks, plans, contrives, how he may 
do something for Christ. He consecrates this 



78 All for Christ. 

power of his mind to the Saviour. Who knows 
how much has been accomplished for the good 
of the world by such a consecration ? May we 
not expect that, when it is made, God will not 
only sanctify our thoughts, but direct and ele- 
vate them so that they may become effective in 
bringing to pass what we desire ? Who will 
say that Columbus had not devoted this power 
to God when he planned the discovery of 
America ? Who will assert that the thoughts 
of Gutenberg, Newton, Washington, Howard, 
Watts, Morse, were not consecrated, and then 
inspired, by the Holy Spirit? 

An author may give this power of thought to 
the composition of some work in which he aims 
at the good of the world. An inventor, in- 
stead of seeking personal aggrandizement as 
his main object, may think for Christ. A mer- 
chant may consecrate his ingenuity and astute- 
ness in business. As the author thinks, as the 
inventor thinks, and as the merchant thinks, 
their sanctified thoughts will spread out in 
various directions to benefit the world. We 
hear of one merchant who, when he sent off 
boxes of merchandise, in every box placed 



Thought Consecrated, 79 

tracts and religious books ; of another who 
posted up the placard in his store, ^^ No swear- 
ing allowed here ; " of another who prepared a 
reading-room for his clerks ; of another who 
established a public library ; of another who 
built a church ; all showing that they were 
thinking for Christ. How many great and 
glorious enterprises^ such as the Bible and mis- 
sionary societies, hospitals, orphanages, and 
institutions of learning, have had their origin 
in this thinking for God ! Worldly men effect 
prodigious results by active thought, and so 
likewise have many Christians* But, alas ! 
how few, comparatively, have dedicated this 
power to the glory of God. 

It is not that we are to think of God all the 
time, but the aim, the ultimate result, is to 
advance his cause. A Livingstone became 
world-renowned as he traversed Africa. He 
revealed to us a new world in the bosom of 
that continent, but his aim was to open it to 
the Gospel. A few hundred Spaniards con- 
quered the Aztec kingdom. They were stern 
and fearless soldiers, but their aim was, so they 
asserted, to open Mexico to the Christian re- 



8o All for Christ. 

ligion. Whether this was, in fact, their real 
object or not does not destroy the force of the 
illustration. 

When Wesley devoted his thought-power to 
God — his power to organize, his power as an 
author, as a preacher — what a result followed 
the consecration ! How many young men 
have in them the eloquence of a Whitefield, a 
Summerfield, a Maffit, or a Gough, if thought 
was consecrated to Christ ! Can we ever ex- 
pect to be pure in heart, then, until this is 
given back to Him who bestowed it upon us ? 
Can we hope that He will hallow it until we 
deliberately lay upon his altar our powers of 
devising, planning, contriving, inventing, dis- 
covering — our ingenuity in business, our logic 
in argument, all, all that mind can conceive of, 
to be used, either immediately or remotely, to 
advance God*s kingdom ? When this is done 
then may we ask, with confident faith in the 
words of our own communion service, as well as 
that of the Episcopal prayer-book, ^^ Cleanse 
the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration 
of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love 
thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name/' 



Words Consecrated. 8 1 



CHAPTER IX. 

WORDS CONSECRATED. 

OUR words are devoted to Christ. If we 
must give account before the throne of 
God for every idle word, shall we go on increas- 
ing the dark catalogue, so soon to confront us 
when we stand before the judgment seat? 

In avoiding idle words, our Saviour does not 
mean that we shall always talk about religion, 
but that our motive in all we say shall be to 
use the wondrous faculty of vocal expression 
which he has given us for his glory. He did 
not mean that we should be gloomy, reserved, 
uncommunicative, afraid to open our lips, lest 
we should say something wrong, but that the 
intention of our lives should be by our words 
to please him and advance his kingdom. So 
far removed from the state of gloomy Chris- 
tians does he desire us to be, that it is his 
wish we should be happy and joyous, com- 
manding us always to rejoice, and saying that 
11 



82 All for Christ. 

the joy of the Lord is our strength. A pro- 
fessor of religion Hving, or rather trying to 
live, half way between the world and God, may 
be heavy and taciturn because he does not 
know where he stands, and is afraid of stum- 
bling at every step ; but the joyous, buoyant 
Christian, walking in the light of God's coun- 
tenance, feels that he has a sure guide in the 
motive which actuates him, and knows that 
his words are hallowed by the pure intention 
which prompts them. 

A pleasant, agreeable conversation often re- 
commends religion, and opens the way effect- 
ually for the introduction of the Saviour. We 
carry this' idea into our social visits, though 
we may not name the subject at the time at 
all. We call upon our friends for the very 
purpose of doing something for Christ ; it may 
be only to show a neighbor or friend that we 
wish to be courteous. We feel that it would 
be derogatory to our Master if we, as his rep- 
resentatives, should be otherwise. This mo- 
tive governing us will prevent us from falling 
into scandal and evil-speaking, will give us 
power to say nothing of an absent person, un- 



Words Consecrated. 83 

less it be something in his favor. This motive 
will prevent us from falling into " lightness, 
jesting, and foolish talking," as our Discipline 
expresses it, and of telling ridiculous stories to 
glorify ourselves instead of God. How many- 
ministers have thus stained an otherwise un- 
sullied name ! Taking advantage of their posi- 
tion in society to gain the ear of the people, 
the staple of their conversation is worn-out, 
threadbare jokes and foolish stories. Why, if 
such men were not ministers and did not thus 
command a hearing and gain an access to 
Christian homes, many a father and mother 
would not admit them to the bosom of their 
families, or allow them to retail their facetious 
nonsense in the presence of their children. It 
has been well said of these ministers that they 
should never have gone into the pulpit, or, 
being there, they should never have come out 
of it. We knew a minister who labored in 
the same church in which we were then sta- 
tioned, several, perhaps twenty, years before 
us. Through all these years his reputation, as 
a story-teller, lived in the memory of the 
people. Some of their remarks it w^s impossi- 



84 All for Christ. 

ble not to hear. One said, ''A good preacher, 
but he ought never to have been a minister/* 
Another, " He would have made a good hotel- 
keeper/* It is right to tell stories when they 
are intended to minister grace to the hearers, 
or illustrate or impress any truth in the relig- 
ious or secular world ; but it is not justice to our 
own dignity as Christians or ministers, or jus- 
tice to the cause we represent, to play the part 
of a buffoon. 

His words thus consecrated, the Christian 
prepares the way, by a well-ordered conversa- 
tion, to labor for Christ, and will speak on 
proper occasions directly for him. It is pre- 
cisely from this point that St. Paul draws us 
upward toward the prayer for perfect love. 
His remarks are directed not to ministers, 
but to the members of the early Church of 
Thessalonica. He says, ^* Now we exhort you, 
brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort 
the feeble-minded, support the weak." Warn 
sinners and disobedient brethren by speaking 
to them of Christ and of a judgment to come; 
tell the feeble and weak of a Saviour's love, 
of a Saviour^s willingness to help, and as 



Words Co7isecrated, 85 

in all active work for the Master we must 
expect persecution, " be patient toward all 
men." Here is the ordinary Christian's 
work, exhorting, warning, comforting as he 
mingles with his brethren and the world. 
** See that none render evil for evil unto 
any man." Under every circumstance, how- 
ever man may treat or mock you, or sneer at 
your efforts to save souls, ^' ever follow that 
which is good, both among yourselves and to all 
men." *^ Rejoice evermore." There is nothing 
in the world that will so fill the heart with joy 
as this employment. Go out and call upon 
some of your neighbors, the poor as well as 
the rich, and tell them of Jesus, and you will 
come back with a joyous, happy heart. " Pray 
without ceasing," that your labors may be 
blessed. *^ In ever}' thing give thanks," not 
taking any praise to yourself for what you 
have done, but thanking God for the inesti- 
mable privilege of laboring for him. "' Quench 
not the Spirit," by neglecting to engage in the 
same work again, or by neglecting in the social 
meetings of your brethren to declare what God 
is doing for you and what you are doing for him. 



86 All for Christ. 

'' Despise not prophesyings/' In these meet- 
ings and in the pubHc sanctuary, as you grow 
in grace and come nearer to the Saviour by 
such work for him, you will hear exhortations 
of brethren and sermons of ministers lacking 
in the earnestness, power, and spiritual life to 
which you have attained ; deficient, perhaps, in 
their elucidation and presentation of that holi- 
ness of heart you have now begun to seek, but 
of which they have not yet received so clear 
^ conception ; and as you hear you will wish 
that they would press the Church more ear- 
nestly up toward full salvation, but despise 
not their words ; they are intended for all 
classes of hearers, and what may not suit you 
may benefit some one else. '^ Prove all things.'' 
Try by the Scriptures what they say, and with- 
out making light of any thing in which they 
possibly err, for that would injure their in- 
fluence, whatever will benefit you apply to 
your heart and ^' hold fast that which is good." 
*^ Abstain from all appearance of evil;" not 
only avoid in the most minute particulars 
every thing that i? evil, but abstain from what 
would appear to be so to anqther who knows 



Words Consecrated. 87 

not your motives, and then you may expect 
an answer to the prayer which follows :— 

'' And the very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly " — yes, wholly, thought, time, feelings, 
life, words, your w^hole being. But can we re= 
tain this blessing ? Can w^e keep it as we go 
out into the world and mingle with men ? To 
answer this very objection the apostle adds : 
''' And I pray God, your whole spirit, and soul, 
and body be preserved blameless unto the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." But will 
God do this great work in such sinful, erring 
hearts as ours ? '' Faithful is he that calleth 
you who also will do it^ He who is faithful 
to keep his promises has called us to this state 
of grace, has promised its accomplishment, 
and he will not fail in performing it. 

Shall we begin at once, then, by warning 
unawakened sinners and lukewarm Church 
members, and comforting the awakened, by 
pointing them to the Saviour, and thus conse- 
crate our words to Christ ? Shall we, from 
this hour, render an obedience which w^e have 
solemnly undertaken to the rules of our Church 
by doing good to men^s souls, instructing, 



88 All for Christ. 

reproving, or exhorting all we have any inter- 
course with ? It is related of Bishop Asbury, 
and this is but an illustration of the mode in 
which he labored for God as he traveled for 
thousands of miles through the country, that 
in riding along a river his eyes fell upon a 
poor, half-intoxicated negro, who was seated 
on the bank fishing. Addressing him, and 
finding that he was ignorant ot the most rudi- 
mentary knowledge of salvation, he dismounted 
from his horse, sat down by his side, and in an 
extended conversation explained to him his 
need of salvation, the atonement of Christ, 
and his duty at once to come to the Saviour. 
Mounting his horse again he rode on. The 
negro did no more fishing that day, but drew 
in his line, put his rod upon his shoulder, and 
went home to pray. Ere long the peace of 
God dawned upon his heart, and he began to 
use his words for Christ. Years afterward the 
Bishop was within some score of- miles of the 
place, and across the country tidings came to 
him of the result of that conversation on tl^ie 
river bank. The negro had told his com- 
panions every-where the story of the cross, 



Words Consecrated, 89 

and not less than a hundred were counted up 
as the trophies of his labor. 

*' In March, 1854," says the narrator of the 
following incident, '^ Bishop Simpson and my- 
self were passing up the Columbia River from 
Portland, Oregon, to the Dalles. It was be- 
fore the keels of noble steamers had vexed the 
waters of the Upper Columbia. Seventy miles 
from Portland, at the Cascades, we took pas- 
sage in an Indian canoe for the Dalles, fifty 
miles distant. The whole country was a wil- 
derness, unoccupied save by a small company 
of United States military at the Dalles, and a 
few daring whites, adventurers, and some of 
them men of dissolute habits and depraved mor- 
als. Our crew in the canoe were two Indians 
and three or four squaws. The passengers, 
besides the Bishop and myself, were two or 
three Indian dogs, and two white men more 
depraved than the dogs. Their hides — the 
men*s — were full of mean whisky, and each had 
a quart bottle to replenish from. 

*' Their mouths were full of cursing, bitter- 
ness, and obscenity. Their foul -dialect, em- 
ployed for the purpose of irritating their cler- 
12 



90 All for Chuist. 

ical fellow-passengers, was very annoying. 
Once or twice a stern reprimand rose to the 
lips of the writer, and it was half uttered, but 
at a signal from the Bishop it was repressed. 
Shortly after one of the drunkards fell into -a 
condition of insensibility. The other became 
silent. The Bishop, at length, very kindly in- 
quired of him whether his mxOther was still 
living. He very eagerly answered that she 
was. ^ Is your mother a praying woman?* 
' O yes.* ^ Do you think she is praying for you 
every day?* With deep feeling the answer 
came, * I have no doubt of it.* Finding that 
he had struck a chord that vibrated, the Bish- 
op continued, ^ Do you suppose your mother 
knows the kind of life you are leading?* 
The sensibilities of the dissipated youth were 
stirred. The fountain of tears was unsealed, 
and with sobs and flowing tears the young 
man replied that he ^ would not have her 
know it for the world.* 

" The subject was followed up by the Bishop 
with an earnest, warm exhortation, which was 
apparently well received. The day passed 
away. We lodged at an Indian camp, and the 



Words Consecrated, 91 

next morning parted with our whisky-bloated 
fellow-passengers. The Bishop has, probably, 
never seen those young men since, but the 
seed he sowed there by the wayside brought 
forth its harvest in God's own good time, as 
the writer learned more than ten years after- 
ward. 

^' In October, 1864, I was coming down the 
Upper Columbia in a splendid steamer, carry- 
ing, perhaps, a hundred passengers, when a well- 
dressed, fine-looking gentleman introduced 
himself to me, informing me that he was the 
young man to whom the Bishop put those 
searching but kindly questions on the canoe in 
March, 1854, and that that interview has been 
made a life-long blessing to him, ' for,' said he, 
' I have led a sober, industrious life ; I have a 
respectable family, and I have amassed a com- 
petence, and I am trying to live a religious 
life.' He ascribed it all, under God's blessing, 
to the faithfulness of the good Bishop." 

O, who can tell the effect of a single sen- 
tence spoken for Christ and sent home to the 
sinner's heart by the Spirit of God ! We 
once, vv'hile seated in her father's house, asked 



92 All for Christ. 

a young lady to give her heart to Christ. In 
great anger she rose from her seat, and abrupt- 
ly left the room without a single word of re- 
ply. The next time we saw her, to our great 
surprise, was at the class-meeting, when she 
rose and told what God had done for her soul. 
At the close of the exercises we inquired how 
and when she had been led to seek religion. 
Her reply was, '^ It is the result of what you 
said to me.'* 

In the same station we met another as we 
were passing near her house, and asking her if 
she had given her heart to God and receiving 
a negative reply, urged her to commence a life 
of prayer. In a few months we were called to 
her dying bed, where she lay rejoicing in the 
presence of Him to whom she had come very 
shortly after we had spoken to her. 

" I am so happy ! " said she ; "" I was never 
so happy in my life before. I have no doubts 
of my acceptance with God. I am going home 
to him." And she died, another trophy of re- 
deeming grace. 

We happened one day to call at the house 
of a merchant in the city of New York who 



Words Consecrated, 93 

was a professor of religion. He was absent, 
but his wife was at home, who was a stranger 
to the Saviour's love, and with whom we sat 
down to converse a few moments. Ere we left 
in a word or two we advised her to pray, and 
to go with her husband to his class-meeting, 
and present herself as a seeker of religion. We 
never saw her afterward. In less than a year 
we heard that she was dead, coupled with the 
information that she had done just as we had 
advised her — had attended the class-meeting, 
had found the Saviour, and died trusting in his 
love. 

When Colonel Russel commanded the Tenth 
Connecticut regiment during our late war, it 
is related of him that he asked Governor Buck- 
ingham for an evangelical chaplain, to make, 
as he said, his soldiers the best of troops. He 
was not a Christian himself — quite the reverse, 
but he told the governor that he had noticed 
that the bravest, most reliable men in danger 
were the religious ones. Hence his request. 
The governor readily promised to grant it ; 
but before the interview closed tenderly said 
to the colonel, ^^You seem anxious about your 



94 All for Christ. 

men that they may become Christians; do you 
feel no concern about yourself? " It was but 
a word or two of inquiry and appeal, and they 
separated. The bloody fight of Roanoke was 
over, and Colonel Russel was among the dead. 
He had fallen leading on those same brave fel- 
lows to victory. But before that fatal day he 
had sought the acquaintance of a Christian of- 
ficer for guidance in the way of salvation, and 
to that Christian friend he stated that the few 
short, faithful words of the governor had been 
the means of arousing his conscience to the 
subject of his own salvation, and they became, 
may we not hope, the instrument of the Holy 
Spirit in preparing him for the sudden termi- 
nation of his earthly career. 

It is in this spirit that every man who has 
accomplished much for Christ devotes his 
words his all to him. The great Jonathan 
Edwards wrote on one occasion : '^ I have this 
day been before God, and have given myself — 
all that I am and have — to God, so that I am 
in no respect my own ; I can challenge no 
right in myself, in this understanding, this 
will, these affections. Neither have I a right to 



Words Consecrated, 95 

this body, or any of its members ; no right to 
these hands, these feet, these eyes, these ears, 
this tongue; I have given myself clean away.'* 
A widowed mother gave her only son to the 
missionary work in a foreign land. As the 
vessel moved off from the shore, she stood 
looking with streaming eyes and almost bro- 
ken heart, and then said, ^^O Jesus, I do this 
for thee." When Christian workers get to this 
point that they are willing to give every thing 
for Jesus, then we shall see other and better 
days ; ^^ the desert shall rejoice and blossom as 
the rose," and ere long " the earth shall be 
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the 
Lord as the waters cover the sea/' 



96 All for Christ, 



CHAPTER X. 

FOOD CONSECRATED. 

WHY do we eat ? Is it to gratify the pal- 
ate by the taste of all the good things 
we can afford to buy? Is it to indulge in the 
sensual enjoyment we derive from the act in 
common with the brutes ? It is related of one 
of the Roman emperors that it was his custom 
to take an emetic after eating that he might 
more quickly return to the pleasures of the 
table. There are many men who thus eat sim- 
ply for the agreeable sensations it produces. 
If they were to go to heaven and find no eat- 
ing there, they would be deprived of their chief 
enjoyment. There are others who eat simply 
to satisfy the cravings of appetite. This is 
more reasonable, but it is not the highest mo- 
tive of Christianity, which is described in the 
words, '^ Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
There is a perfect antidote in this command- 
ment to all immoderate use of food. He that 



Food Consecrated, 97 

eats and drinks to the glory of God does so to 
sustain and give strength to his body that he 
may live to do good. He eats the quantity 
which he believes to be sufificient for this pur- 
pose and no more. Not only does he restrain 
his appetite in reference to quantity, but from 
the food which is set before him he selects the 
quality, though its taste may be less palatable, 
which he believes will best suit his digestive 
organs, and does not fill his stomach with a 
promiscuous mass of dainties tending not only 
to clog the operation of his corporeal faculties, 
but to obscure the delicate perceptions of the 
soul. He makes eating a matter of conscience 
as well as every thing else. If we were to con- 
form to the Discipline of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church in this respect we would follow 
the Divine precept. The Discipline, in refer- 
ring to food, says : ^' Do you use only that 
kind and that degree which is best for both 
body and soul ? Do you eat no more at each 
meal than is necessary? '* 

We have reason, personally, to thank God 
that we adopted in practice, at the commence- 
ment of our ministry, this provision of our 
13 



98 All for Christ. 

Discipline. Not only has it been a spiritual 
aid to us, but it has been the means of health 
and bodily enjoyment. So it is with every 
thing God requires us to consecrate. It is a 
benefit to ourselves. We may not see it 
clearly at the time of its adoption, but time 
will show, even in this world, and as regards 
the things of this world, the wisdom of our 
Father's precepts. There are thousands of 
professors of religion who dull their intellects 
and obscure their faith by overloading their 
stomachs. 

Dr. Dio Lewis, in one of his excellent works, 
has well said : ^^ In all countries where food is 
plenty and cheap, excessive eating is well-nigh 
universal. The parents indulge in excesses.'* 
** The children inherit an unnatural craving ; 
during childhood they are baited with cakes, 
candies, and other sweetmeats, and afterward 
they are tempted with a variety of condi- 
mented meats, and these are followed with 
appetizing desserts, fruits, and other tidbits. 
The results are seen on every hand in almost 
every individual. The stomach becomes weak 
and deranged, the body heavy and unelastic, 



Food Consecr(2ted, gg 

the mind foggy and sluggish, the temper 
irritable/* 

If we employ our intellectual faculties in 
devising the means of gormandizing and stuff- 
ing to its utmost capacity this finely-wrought 
frame, which God has given us, that we may 
preserve it in good condition and in the 
best working order, to the utmost possible 
limit on earth, we are guilty of a crime of 
which the brutes are incapable. If we eat 
every thing that is set before us simply be- 
cause it tickles our palate, it is neither fol- 
lowing the principles of true religion nor of 
hygiene. Let us eat, then, for the glory of 
God, as the Bible directs us, so that body and 
soul may be fitted to do his will, that we may 
not cut short our usefulness, and be guilty of a 
suicide for which we must give account before 
the throne of God. 

There is an evil in connection with this sub- 
ject of which many good people are guilty. 
The most solemn consecration should be made 
in reference to it if we wish to enjoy the full- 
ness of Christ. We invite our friends to an 
gntertainment, ap4 we provide such a repast 



100 All for Christ. 

of varied food as we know will injure them, 
unless they have a conscience or prudence we 
will hardly give them leave to exercise. ''Ah ! 
but/' you say, '' I must treat my friends well.'' 
Just stop a minute and think if that is your 
motive. If you mean by treating your friends 
well that you want to show them that you 
know how to set a good table, and exhibit a 
good assortment of dishes, then you are right : 
but such an exhibition of skill and capital is of 
questionable benefit to your guests. Give 
your friends the credit for more intellect and 
less appetite, and you will more truly compli- 
ment them. 

Drink may be included under the heading 
of this chapter. How much nourishment there 
is in tea, coffee, chocolate, and their accom- 
paniments of milk and sugar, and how benefi- 
cial or otherwise they are to the system, we do 
not pretend to decide. If they are taken to the 
glory of God, and we believe them to be good 
for us, wherein can there be condemnation? 
A tender consciience, quick to feel the approach 
pf evil, is a good thing ; a morbid conscience, 
which sees sin when there is none, is an un^ 



Food Consecrated, lOi 

comfortable companion ; but a diseased con- 
science, which strains at a gnat and swallows a 
camel, is an evil. The motive of every person 
must decide on such a question as this. 

If we think wine, ale, or stronger liquors a 
benefit to us, can these not be used in small 
quantities to the glory of God? When the 
car of Juggernaut is brought forth there are 
thousands of men who drag at the ropes, and 
some half dozen, more or less, throw them- 
selves beneath the wheels and are crushed to 
death. If a Christian man had been standing 
among the spectators on such an occasion he 
might have said, '^ I need a little exercise ; I 
wall help to pull the great image over those 
prostrate forms." You would have said if you 
stood there that he was a participant in the 
sin of murder. There are several half dozens 
of people in the United States, about seventy- 
five thousand a year, who fall before the 
Moloch of intemperance ; and there are a few 
drunkards' wives and children who suffer some 
trifling inconvenience through the use of these 
beverages, and a few men, persons who con- 
tribute nothing to the capital stock of the na- 



102 All for Christ. 

tion by their earnings, but who live on the 
wages of the wretched men to whom they deal 
out poison in every glass, and on the tears and 
groans of worse than orphaned children and 
widowed wives. 

This great Juggernaut is steadily moving on, 
crushing its victims at every turn of its pon- 
derous wheels. There are thousands dragging 
at the ropes. The lusty brewers, distillers, 
and retailers are in the van, followed by the 
moderate drinkers, whose vigorous pull keeps 
the vast and infernal machine in motion, while 
the hundreds of thousands of poor, bloated, 
wretched, tottering drunkards hold on until 
they are lost sight of beneath the wheels and 
are gone. We will not touch the ropes. " De- 
liver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou 
God of my salvation." Save us from contribut- 
ing in the slightest degree to the slaughter of 
our fellow-man by saying Godspeed to his mur- 
derers. God forbid that we as Christians should 
countenance, if it be but in the weight of a 
feather, the sale or use of what is such a curse 
to our country and the world ! 

There is a tremendous battle going on be^ 



Food Consecrated. 103 

tween the advocates of sobriety and drunken- 
ness. It is centering in these United States, 
in this goodly heritage which God has given 
us. Light is pouring down upon us as to the 
evils of manufacturing, selling, and using al- 
coholic and fermented liquors. We believe 
that God means to save this country not only 
from the withering blight of rum, but from the 
more insidious effects of wine and beer-drink- 
ing, no less fatal in undermining our national 
morality, because they are ceaselessly erecting 
the foundations, and are more imperceptible in 
their influences. Every man is on one side or 
the other. The Saviour says as to this and 
every other struggle with the powers of dark- 
ness, ^^ He that is not with me is against me.'* 
All men know, or ought to know, that the first 
step toward drunkenness is taking a little beer, 
wine, or brandy, seldom the latter at the be- 
ginning. Whosoever, then, takes a glass of 
wine or beer or brandy has taken the first step 
toward drunkenness. No one can dispute this 
conclusion. It is clear as the soundest logic 
can make it. It is possible that he may be 
saved from a drunkard's end, but he has put 



104 All for Christ. 

himself upon the track. Not only does he 
thus sin against himself, but, by his example, 
he bids his neighbor do likewise. He takes 
hold of the ropes of the great Juggernaut, and 
with the brewers, distillers, moderate drinkers 
gives it one pull forward, and takes his place in 
the gigantic army which is endeavoring to de- 
stroy all sobriety in our land. 

The whole traffic in intoxicating liquors is 
an outrage, a gross imposition upon the mo- 
rality, decency, patriotism, and religion of the 
nation. It is astonishing that men have borne 
it so long. If a thousand mad dogs were 
turned loose upon the city of New York, they 
would cause less death, less sorrow, than alco- 
hol causes in a single day. What would the 
indignation of the community be against the 
man who would turn into our streets a single 
rabid animal ! And yet we suffer our streets 
to be infested with these dens of murder and 
crime, and we pay our taxes to support the 
men who stand behind their bars and their 
families — to support their victims and their 
families, and tamely bear the imposition. This 
glorious country was founded by our fathers 



Food Consecrated. 105 

after herculean struggles to establish civil lib- 
erty. Is it heroic, is it brave, is it religious, is 
it manly, to stand still and see a horde of un- 
principled men, who care nothing for the wel- 
fare of the nation, debauch our sons, attack 
our institutions, and corrupt the morality 
which forms the basis of our national prosper- 
ity? We repeat, the entire business of dis- 
tilling, brewing, and selling is an outrage, a 
fraud upon the nation. It is a parasite living 
upon the life-blood of the body politic. ^^ But,** 
says the opposer, ^^ Christ drank wine at the 
communion table.*' It is false as falsity can 
be that he drank the alcoholic mixture which 
we call wine in this day. You may search all 
through the gospels and the epistles, where the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper is spoken of, 
and you will find that it does not say that he 
or the disciples drank wine at all. The word 
is not mentioned. It says he took the cup 
and he speaks of the fruit of the vine, but not 
of wine. It was impossible that it could have 
been the wine of modern days, because fermen- 
tation and leaven were banished by their ec- 
clesiastical law from the passover feast, and 
14 



io6 All for Christ. 

Christ never violated such institutions. So 
clear is it that it was only the pure juice of the 
grape they drank, that as we go back to ascer- 
tain what was the Jewish custom, we find that 
the grapes were preserved by the Jews for that 
very occasion. 

But the Saviour sanctioned the use of wine 
at Cana of Galilee. So he did, but not alco- 
holic or fermented wine. The distillation of 
alcohol was not discovered until centuries after 
Christ, and the wine in use among multitudes 
of the ancients, and in use among many Eastern 
people now, is a thick unfermented grape 
syrup, which was weakened by water, the same 
as we would weaken lemon syrup in order to 
drink it. During our residence in South 
America we found this very syrup, made from 
the grapes, in use among the people. The six 
water-pots of stone, ordinarily used for the 
washing or purification of the Jews, on this oc- 
casion doubtless contained the water which 
was mingled with the syrup, as it was from 
them the Saviour directed them to draw. And 
it was weaker on other occasions, as the ruler 
of the feast supposed it would be on this, as 



Food Consecrated, 107 

the strength of the syrup became exhausted, 
and when men had well drunk — were well 
filled, not intoxicated, because more water 
was added when the quantity decreased, with- 
out adding additional syrup. Who dares to 
charge the Saviour of the world with using or 
encouraging the use of that which will make 
a man a drunkard ? Who dares accuse our 
Lord Jesus Christ with putting to his lips the 
modern wine cup, and of swallowing its fiery 
contents? 

The Methodist Episcopal Church by her 
rules on this subject is a grand temperance 
society. She prohibits '^ drunkenness, buying 
or selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, 
unless in cases of extreme necessity." She 
shows what she means by this rule in the fol- 
lowing questions to her ministers : '' Do you 
use only that kind and that degree of drink 
which is best both for your body and soul ? 
Do you choose and use water for your common 
drink, and only take wine medicinally or sac- 
ramentally?" 

Shall we, then, as Christians, ever say that 
we can drink wine, beer, or alcohol to the glory 



io8 All for Christ. 

of God ? Never, never ! Shall we, by our ex- 
ample, which speaks louder than words, bid 
our neighbor take that which forms one step 
in the ladder leading downward to drunken- 
ness and eternal death ? Never, never ! 

John Wesley was far ahead of his age on 
this question as he was on almost every other, 
and a century and more ago, long before the 
modern temperance reformation commenced, 
uttered the following terrible denunciation of 
the rumseller: — 

'^ Neither may we gain by hurting our neigh- 
bor zn his body. Therefore we may not sell 
any thing which tends to impair health. Such 
is, eminently, all that liquid fire commonly 
called drams or spirituous liquors.' It is true 
these may have a place in medicine, they may 
be of use in some bodily disorders; although 
there would rarely be occasion for them were 
it not for the unskillfulness of the practitioner. 
Therefore such as prepare and sell them only 
for this end may keep their conscience clear. 
But who are they ? Who prepare them only 
for this end ? Do you know ten such distillers 
in England ? Then excuse these. But all 



Food Consecrated, 109 

who sell them in the common way, to any that 

will buy, are poisoners general. They murder 

his majesty's subjects by wholesale, neither 

does their eye pity or spare. They drive them 

to hell like sheep ; and what is their gain? Is 

it not the blood of these men ? Who then 

would envy their large estates and sumptuous 

palaces ? A curse is in the midst of them ; the 

curse of God cleaves to the stones, the timber, 

the furniture of them ! The curse of God is 

in their gardens, their walks, their groves; a 

fire that burns to the nethermost hell ! Blood, 

blood is there : the foundation, the floor, the 

walls, the roof, are stained with blood ! And 

canst thou hope, O thou man of blood, though 

thou art ' clothed in scarlet and fine linen, and 

farest sumptuously every day,' canst thou hope 

to deliver down thy fields of blood to the third 

generation? Not so, for there is a God in 

heaven ; therefore thy name shall soon be rooted 

out. Like as those whom thou hast destroyed 

body and soul, * thy memorial shall perish with 

thee!'" 



no All for Christ. 



w 



CHAPTER XI. 

DRESS CONSECRATED. 

ORSE than heathenish are our customs 
of dress. The sewing machine, instead 
of abridging the hours of labor, instead of ren- 
dering the toil less in making up a lady's gar- 
ment, only adds more flounces, ruffles, frills, 
and trimmings, with such a prodigious amount 
of additional material that the actual measure- 
ment in yards is almost incredible. The time, 
and consequent money, which should be saved 
by the sewing machine are lost in the extra 
labor. Heathen women are content to dress 
in the same material, and in the same un- 
changed style, year after year, generation after 
generation ; but Christians who have in bap- 
tism promised to renounce the devil and all his 
works, the vain pomp and glory of the world 
with all covetous desires of the same, and the 
carnal desires of the flesh in that they will not 
follow or be led by them, actually follow and 
are led by a thousand absurd changes of the 



Dress Consecrated. 1 1 1 

fashions of this world, occupying more time 
and thought than they bestow on prayer and 
on all the other exercises put together of that 
sacred religion the name of which they bear. 

And women who are not ignorant of the 
precepts of the Bible on this subject, and who 
have taken upon themselves the solemn vows 
of baptism, yearly travel in foreign climes, and 
publish to their benighted sisters of pagan 
lands the interpretation which they put upon 
the Gospel as to the self-denial of their attire, 
until it is often the case that one of the first 
things by which a convert from heathenism to 
Christ is known is the relinquishment of her 
previous simple and plain clothing, and the 
adoption of the gaudy dress of a thus perverted 
Christianity. We send our female missionaries 
to heathen countries, and they take in their 
hands the rules by which they profess to be 
guided, which forbid the adornment of the per- 
son with gold or pearls or costly array, and 
such is the lack of instruction on this point, 
and sometimes such is the force of a so-called 
Christian example, that a love of dress among 
heathens is developed which was never devel- 



112 All for Christ. 

oped before, and the simple change of the jewel 
from the nose to the ear is considered sufficient 
evidence of having forsaken pagan customs, 
just as if two golden ornaments stretching down 
from the ears were less barbaric than one only 
pendant from the nose. 

We are not speaking of the unhealthfulness 
or unseemliness of our fashions, but of the 
wickedness of devoting ourselves thus to the 
world. It has sometimes seemed to us that 
our devoted mothers, who taught us in the 
morning of life to bow the knee in prayer, our 
earnest Methodist sisters, who were accustomed 
to wrestle at the altar for sinners in times of 
revival, were passing away before this god of 
dress. Who has ever seen a gayly dressed lady 
tricked out in the ordinary style of the day 
lifting up her voice before the congregation in 
prayer? The two things do not go. together. 
There is a conscious incongruity between them. 

An elegantly dressed lady one day called 
upon Bishop Hedding, stating that she felt the 
need of religion and wished to be a Christian. 
The Bishop gave her such instruction as he 
thought she needed, and gently hinted to her 



Dress Consecrated, 113 

as she left the room that her dress was not in 
conformity with the rules of our Church. In a 
day or two she appeared in neat and modest 
robes, joined the Church, and became an earn- 
est Christian. 

"' But what harm is there in dressing well ? " 
There is no harm in dressing well, we reply, if 
you use the word in a right sense. There is 
harm, however, in expending the time and 
money in dress which modern fashion de- 
mands, and there is harm in thus copying the 
usages of the world. We can easily determine 
how far we may go by a single test. The 
Bible teaches, as we have already said, that 
we are to do all things to the glory of God. 
We are, then, to dress so as to please God. 
This does not mean that we are to make 
scare-crows of ourselves, or wear what is a 
hundred years behind the time, or to be un- 
cleanly, like the ancient hermits, or untidy or 
slovenly in our persons; but instead of con- 
sulting the tastes of our friends and the tastes 
of this sinful world, to consult the will of our 
blessed Master. As we buy an article, or 

order one to be made, the question to be asked 
lo 



114 All for Christ. 

is, What does Jesus think of it? Does he ap- 
prove of every thing I am wearing? Would 
he smile upon me and on my apparel if he 
were walking by my side ? 

We have not space to enter into an argu- 
ment as to the waste of money and of precious 
time, of the vanity, pride, and the encourage- 
ment of a worldly spirit involved in fashion- 
able dress, but we must mention one evil 
which is universal. Why do a great many of 
our poorer and middle classes, in city and 
country, absent themselves from the public 
services of God on the Sabbath day ? Because 
they cannot dress as well as those who usually 
form our congregations. They see members 
of the Church dressed in their best gar- 
ments, who too often take this occasion to 
show how much finery they can put on the 
*temple of the Holy Ghost, which they profess 
their bodies to be, and these poorer and mid- 
dle classes feel they are degraded by appearing 
in such an assembly in the clothes they can 
afford to buy. This feeling on their part may 
not be right. We may say they ought to go 
to the house of God to please him, and if their 



Di'ess CGUSccratcd, 115 

clothes are acceptable to him it is enough. 
But they are not yet above human nature. 
They have not yet acquired the perfect motive 
which we thus demand of them. How many 
thousands of the members of our Churches 
would stay away from the sanctuary if they 
could dress no better than they can ! How 
many thousands of professors are actually de- 
tained from the house of prayer every year 
simply because suitable bonnets, shawls, etc., 
are not in readiness for a winter, spring, fall, 
or summer fashion! 

What a tremendous and wide-spread hin- 
derance this is to the progress of the Gospel ! 
If women were to dress to the glory of God, 
putting on some cheap material which the 
rain would not spoil, and which their neigh- 
bors could afford to imitate, what a wondrous 
change there would be ! What an effect would 
be produced in the city of New York if on 
some Sabbath morning every member of the 
various Churches should appear clothed in 
garments such as they believed would please 
God and bless their neighbors ! 

\ye m>ay well imagine that our divine Lord 



ii6 All for Christ. 

and Mary his mother were never clothed in 
the fashions of the day. His reputed father 
was a carpenter, and he was known in the 
community, before he commenced his minis- 
try, as the carpenter's son, and his mother as 
the carpenter's wife. No one can think of 
Mary sweeping through the streets of Naza- 
reth, or Bethlehem, or Jerusalem as a fashion- 
ably-dressed lady. Neither can we conceive 
that Lazarus, Mary, or Martha, whom Jesus 
so peculiarly loved, and whose home was one 
of his chosen retreats, were such followers of 
the fashions of this world as many of our 
Church-members are in these days. If Jesus 
should now appear in person incognito^ just as 
he once appeared in Judea, dressed as the car- 
penter's son, and Mary dressed as the carpen- 
ter's wife, and they should enter one of our 
elegant churches, we question if there would 
be many pew doors thrown open to receive 
them. 

We believe in the lofty devotion, purity, 
and Christian character of woman. As a 
mother, she molds our character; as a wife 
and sister, she refines and elevates the familj^ 



Dress Consecrated. 1 1 7 

circle. We believe that she who was first at 
the sepulcher of the Saviour is a representa- 
tive of her sex. She is usually first to give 
her heart to Christ, and first in every good 
work. Men have their terrible vices, such as 
w^e have described in the last chapter, and 
they descend more universally and more deep- 
ly in moral obliquity than women. Why 
cannot she, who to us is only a little lower 
than an angel, arise and shake off forever this 
degradation of fashion, folly, and outward 
show ? Methodism in its early years ac- 
complished much. It was reforming the world 
in this respect. But just as society was be- 
ginning to feel its influence and to admire its 
beautiful simplicity, the Church succumbed, 
and gave up the ground it had gained. Is it 
too late to return to the first principles of our 
fathers in the Gospel, to those rules which 
every member of our communion has sacredly 
promised to observe, prohibiting us to put on 
gold and costly apparel ? Is there no meaning 
to us in such laws, enforced as they are by 
additional sanctions, such as the following ? 
^^ We should by all means insist on the rules 



ii8 All for Christ. 

concerning dress. This is no time to encour- 
age superfluity in dress. Therefore let all our 
people be exhorted to conform to the spirit of 
the apostolic precept, not to adorn themselves 
^with gold, or pearls, or costly array.**' 

Shall we be false to our vows, false to our 
powers of usefulness, false to our own dignity 
of character,* and false to Christ and heaven ? 
Here, again, as well as on the question of the 
liquor traffic, Wesley was ahead of the age in 
which he lived. How earnestly, how faith- 
fully he pleaded with the Methodists of his 
day on this subject! He says : — 

'^ I conjure you all who have any regard 
for me, show me before I go hence that I 
have not labored, even in this respect, in 
vain for near half a century. Let me see, 
fore I die, a Methodist congregation full as 
plain dressed as a Quaker congregation. Only 
be more consistent with yourselves. Let 
your dress be cheap as well as plain. Other- 
wise you do but trifle with God and me and 
your own souls. I pray, let there be no costly 
silks among you how grave soever they may 
be. Let there be no Quaker linen — proverl^s 



Dress Consecrated, 119 

ially so called for their exquisite fineness — no 
Brussels lace, no elephantine hats or bonnets, 
those scandals of female modesty. Be all of a 
piece, dressed from head to foot as persons 
professing godliness ; professing to do every 
thing, small and great, with the single view of 
' pleasing God. 

^* Let not any of you who are rich in this 
world endeavor to excuse yourselves from this 
by talking nonsense. It is stark, staring non- 
sense to say, ^ Oh, I can afford this or that ! ' 
If you have regard for common sense, let that 
silly word never come out of your mouth. No 
man living can afford to waste any part of 
what God has committed to his trust. None 
can afford to throw any part of that food and 
raiment into the sea which was lodged with 
him on purpose to feed the hungry and clothe 
the naked. And it is far worse than simple 
waste to spend any part of it in gay or costly 
apparel. For this is no less than to turn 
wholesome food into deadly poison. It is 
giving so much money to poison both your- 
selves and others, as far as your example 
spreads, with pride, vanity, anger, lust, love of 



120 All for Christ. 

the world, and a thousand ' fooHsh and hurtful 
desires/ which tend to ^ pierce them through 
with many sorrows/ And is there no harm in 
all this ! O God, arise and maintain thy own 
cause ! Let not men or devils any longer put 
out our eyes, and lead us blindfold into the 
pit of destruction ! " ^^ I beseech you, O ye 
parents, do not hinder your children from fol- 
lowing their own convictions, even though you 
might think they would look prettier if they 
were adorned with such gewgaws as other 
children wear ! '' 



Integrity in Business. 121 



CHAPTER -XII. 

INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS. 

AS we rode out one day with one of the 
members of the Church in which we were 
then preaching, we had a long conversation on 
the subject of honesty in business. He was a 
merchant in the village where we dwelt, and 
was very frank as to his sentiments on the sub- 
ject. He maintained stoutly that a man could 
not keep a store with success unless, in various 
small ways, he defrauded his customers. He 
did not say that he committed such frauds 
himself, but the inference was pretty strong 
that he did so. We contended just as earn- 
estly that it was not necessary thus to make 
cheating a part of our business ; that a man 
who was upright and honest in dealing was 
most likely to succeed ; and, supposing the 
principle he advocated to be correct, then no 
Christian man should keep a store, because it 
was a sin to rob our neighbors. 

It is long ago now, and when we were young 
16 



122 All for Christ. 

in the ministry, that we met this brother, and 
his remarks made us very sad. He was a fel- 
low-Christian, or professed to be so. We 
preached to him every Sabbath, and met him at 
the prayer and class-meetings, and though we 
talked long on the occasion to which we allude, 
he urged no less strongly than at first, at the 
close of our interview, the necessity of dishon- 
esty as a means of success. Only a few months 
passed and he failed in business and left the 
village. We have never seen or heard of him 
since. We think his case is an illustration of 
the usual result of his principles — that if a man 
wants to break down commercially, a very easy 
way to do it is to be smart enough to cheat his 
customers in trifling things under the impres- 
sion that he is not found out. 

In the same village, at the same time, there 
was an unassuming man, a member of the same 
Church, who kept another store of the same 
nature, where dry goods and groceries were sold. 
We asked him what he thought of such a prin- 
ciple as that for which his neighbor contended. 
He said he did not believe in it, and did not 
practice it. This brother continued year after 



Integrity in Bitsijicss. 123 

year in the village, his business increasing until 
he enlarged his store, beloved and respected 
by all, giving regularly his proportion of money 
toward the support of the Church, until, with 
a competency sufficient for the wants of his 
family and himself, he sold out and is still the 
honored resident of the beautiful village of 

, an illustration of the familiar maxim that 

^^ Honesty is the best policy," even in worldly 
matters. 

Some people abuse the Church because of 
the dishonest tricks of some of its members. 
This is all very well if the knaves in the Church 
could hear and be benefited by their strictures. 
Such critics forget that Christians are pained 
deeply by such stains upon their escutcheon. 
We were struggling once to bring up a cold and 
formal Church to a state of religious life and 
activity. There was one of our members, who 
had a most estimable wife and family, so in- 
corrigible a rogue that the odor of his name 
pervaded the whole community. His word 
was not worth a dollar. Accumulated little 
debts were standing against him in all direc- 
tions. He made promises to pay as easily as 



124 All for Christ. 

he breathed, but they were worth no more 
than the breath which issued from his lips. If 
he could succeed in making a trade or a bargain 
with some unwary neighbor, there was sure to 
be some plausible ruse by which the latter was 
deceived. He seldom attended our public 
services, and never the social means of grace. 
He ought to have been expelled, but, as we are 
not speaking of that point, it is not necessary 
to say why he was not. When we came to the 
battle-field of extra meetings in the fall he was 
on hand, as if he were a principal leader of the 
Church militant. Up in the center of the altar 
he stood, the most conspicuous object to the 
congregation, laboring and praying for sinners 
who, every one knew, needed conversion less 
than he did himself. If he had come as a seek- 
er of religion, or as a backslider returning to 
the fold, it would have seemed more consist- 
ent ; but his very presence repelled whoever 
might otherwise have had a disposition to come 
to the Saviour, and sincere members of the 
Church shrunk from the spot which he occu- 
pied. How little worldly men imagine the 
mortification of the minister and other breth- 



Integrity in Business. 125 

ren of the Church when they are obliged to 
stand by and acknowledge as fellow-laborers 
such inconsistent professors ! Proud sinners 
point to them, glorying in their own probity, 
asserting that they have more religion than 
Church members, as if honesty was the fulfill- 
ment of the whole law. They are fond of 
quoting the text, " What doth the Lord require 
of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, 
and to walk humbly with thy God," as if to 
love mercy and to walk humbly with God were 
not part of their obligation. Honesty is a part 
of religion but not the whole of it. A man 
may be honest toward his neighbor and dishon- 
est toward his God. 

But how much lack of this virtue there is 
among business n^en who are in the Church of 
God! How much falsehood in keeping prom- 
ises to pay small debts to dependents and 
others ! How many times such men are called 
upon for payments when the money is in their 
pockets or within their reach, and the applicant 
is turned away ! We read of those on whose 
foreheads the name of Jesus is written. If the 
true character of these brethren were written 



126 All for Christ. 

there it would be '* liars.'* How much falsehood 
there is in keeping promises to manufacture 
and deliver articles of daily use ! The carpen- 
ter, the blacksmith, the mason, the painter, the 
shoemaker, the tailor, lie two or three times as 
to the day when their tasks will be completed, 
and have such slight compunctions as to their 
sin that they hardly name it in their evening 
private prayer. Thank God, small stealing is 
not so common ! Protestantism has almost con- 
quered this sin in Church members. But in 
Roman Catholic countries, and we speak that 
which we do know and have seen, petty theft 
is universal. It is not expected to find serv- 
ants who will not pilfer. Their daily constant 
thefts are unavoidable. The lock and key are 
the only protection. Cooks, who have the 
labor of going to market and carrying home a 
heavy basket containing their purchases, will 
hire out and live with you for less wages than 
if you do your marketing yourself and release 
them from the toil, because they purloin in the 
act more than the amount of any extra wages 
they would receive. It is true, there is much 
of the sarne kind of stealing in this country 



Integrity in Business, 127 

among railroad conductors, stage-drivers, and 
clerks, but it is committed by men who are not 
members of our evangelical Churches. 

There was a time in the city of New York, 
and not many years ago, when merchants and 
storekeepers asked a certain price for their 
goods, and were expected to deduct a few 
cents or a few dimes to almost every pur- 
chaser. The door was thus open to a vast 
amount of fraud. A ceaseless effort was going 
on to sell for a little more than an article was 
worth, and to buy for a little less. The pur- 
chaser did not wish to get any thing at a fair 
value, but aimed to cheapen it as much as 
possible, and, dishonestly, to pay for it less 
than it was worth. But the world is advanc- 
ing. Under the present regulations, in re- 
spectable stores, of fixed prices, it is more easy 
for men who are trying to do right to conduct 
their business with strict integrity. And this 
strict, absolute, perfect integrity the law of 
God requires. ^^Ye shall do no unrighteous- 
ness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or 
in measure. Just balances, just weights, a 
just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have/' 



128 All for Christ. 

When Ephraim is said to have fed on the 
wind, and to have increased in Hes and desola- 
tion, his character is thus described-; ^^ He is a 
merchant, the balances of deceit are in his 
hand." ^^ Are there yet the treasures of wick- 
edness in the house of the wicked, and the 
scant measure that is abominable?" ^^ Shall I 
count them pure with the wicked balances, and 
with the bag of deceitful weights ? " ^^ A false 
balance is abomination to the Lord : but a just 
weight is his delight." ^^ Lying lips are abom- 
ination to the Lord: but they that deal truly 
are his delight." 

We have in our minds a sort of sharp prac- 
tice, said to exist among some dealers, by 
which in giving change and in the entry and 
footing up of accounts the half cent is always 
turned in their favor, and that possibly their 
prices are arranged with this object in view. 
It seems to us that such a proceeding is not 
only dishonest, but so contemptibly mean, 
small, and sordid, that for the sake of human- 
ity we would fain doubt its existence. 

Some one will now reply, ^^ All that you 
have said applies to any Christian, and not pe- 



Integrity in Business, 129 

cuHarly to a state of perfect love.'' Doubtless 
it applies to every Christian, in whatever stage 
of grace he may be, as soon as he understands 
the length and breadth of the Divine law. 
But as there are babes and little children in 
Christ, many of them already gray-headed 
men, we are not willing to unchurch and un- 
christianize them by denying their conversion 
if they have sinned without proper reflection 
in any of the particulars we have named. 
Many a man in selling or buying an article 
exaggerates or depreciates its value thought- 
lessly, and almost unconsciously goes beyond 
the strict truth. He does not discover dis- 
tinctly the sin he is committing. Others will 
make a promise, intending to fulfill it, but do 
not practice proper diligence in doing so. In 
such cases it might be both untrue and un- 
charitable to say that such men are not Chris- 
tians. But if the eye be shut to the truth, 
when seen and understood, then condemnation 
comes on the soul, and a forfeiture of our 

adoption as God's children. 
17 



130 All for Christ, 



CHAPTER XIIL 

SOCIAL TASTES. 

THERE are many members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, and it may be 
members of our sister Churches, who began Hfe 
when they were poor. They hved in parts of 
houses, and neither their furniture nor table 
exhibited much of what the world is accus- 
tomed to denominate refinement. Having be- 
come Christians when young, the religion of 
Christ taught them to be temperate, moral, 
and frugal in their habits, and a natural result 
was the gradual accumulation of wealth. Per- 
haps they did not see the duty of employing 
much of this increase of substance in the work 
of God ; perhaps they did employ some of it in 
this Way, or it may have been so tied up that 
they could not have done it had they wished 
to do so. 

After the lapse of years a striking change is 
visible in their style of living. A splendid 



Social Tastes. 131 

mansion, filled with costly furniture and fine 
paintings, takes the place of the humble apart- 
ments occupied in their younger days. Their 
families grow up and are brought into the 
society of young persons, connected with 
wealthy families, whose parents have never 
known the restraints of Methodism, in whose 
judgment dancing, the card table, and the 
wine cup are innocent amusements. These 
children of Methodism, who owe their educa- 
tion, their good moral habits, their position in 
society, their all to Methodism, as they be- 
come young men and women grow ashamed 
of what they contemptuously call the old- 
fashioned strictness which has made both them 
and their parents what they are, and studiously 
avoid all Church-membership, or seek a Church 
the rules of which do not speak out so distinct- 
ly against the fashionable follies of the day. 
Sometimes, however, they preserve their at- 
tachment to the old Church ; but instead of 
obeying her rules, they put such a construc- 
tion upon them in reference to what suits their 
tastes as to destroy all their force, so that 
when they are of the age at which their fa- 



132 All for Christ. 

thers and mothers joined the Church there is 
little resemblance between them, except in the 
outward name. Their parents were accustomed 
to attend the class and prayer-meeting; per- 
haps their father was a leader ; but they insist 
that the custom of the modern Church makes 
these means of grace indifferent ; the voice of 
their parents at their age was often heard in 
the love-feast, but they contend that the insti- 
tution is antiquated. A new generation of 
Methodists is thus rising up, especially in the 
more fashionable quarters of cities, which is 
dragging our Church down to its own level, 
and preparing the way for a declension of 
piety and doctrine, such as was experienced in 
ages past by the Greek and Latin Churches, 
and still later by the English Church previous- 
ly to the era of John Wesley. 

And all this is the fault of the parents, who 
instead of constructing and furnishing their 
improved residences with a view to comfort 
and convenience, and with the view of pleas- 
ing Christ, imitated the expensive and showy 
customs of the world, and introduced their 
families into an atmosphere of ungodliness 



Social Tastes, 133 

and tinseled fashion which it was impossible 
for them to breathe without contamination. 
The parents, instead of renouncing the pomps 
and vanities, which they had promised to do in 
baptism, brought their loved ones within the 
charmed circle, and while they escaped, per- 
haps, themselves on account of their age, they 
left those whom God had given them to be 
trained up and educated for his kingdom, to 
be trained up and educated by the devil. We 
knew a brother in a western city, a micmber of 
our Church, who had a handsome, respectable 
house, which was handsomely furnished, on 
the finest avenue of the town. But it v/as 
not quite elegant enough, and he constructed 
a palace, to adorn which there were no Amer- 
ican-made carpets, or sofas, or chairs, or look- 
ing-glasses of sufficient richness, and they vv^ere 
imported from Europe. When he was just 
about ready to enjoy the sumptuous dwelling 
God called him by death to account for the 
wealth he had thus expended. He had two 
or three children, none of whom were members 
of our Church. If men will persist in launch- 
ing themselves on such a sea, how shall they 



134 All for Christ. 

give an account before the throne of God for 
possessions which are thus worse than wasted? 
How much better to Hve moderately, and to 
avoid throwing our famihes out on the whirl- 
pool of fashion, renouncing all ambition to be, 
what Christ never was in this world, and what 
he never intended we should be, imitators of 
its hollow-hearted votaries. ^^ I am not of the 
world," said the Saviour. Ye ^' are not of the 
world ; " ^^ if ye were of the world, the world 
would love his own ; but because ye are not 
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the 
world, therefore the world hateth you." And 
a Christian never will shine in the fashionable 
world until he compromises with Christ, until 
the wings of his devotion are clipped, and un- 
til his peace and joy have become so covered 
up, by the rubbish of its pleasures, that the 
companions he has chosen can see no traces of 
them in his countenance or manner. 

How much better, as our substance increases, 
to increase our usefulness by devoting it to the 
Saviour! How much better to bestow it upon 
the suffering and needy than to curse our chil- 
dren by incentives to a worldly spirit ! Hear 



Social Tastes. 135 

what John Wesley, one of the wisest men God 
has ever given to the world, says on this sub- 
ject : '' Many years ago, when I was at Oxford, 
in a cold winter's day, a young maid (one of 
those we kept at school) called upon me. I 
said. You seemed half-starved. Have you 
nothing to cover you but that thin linen 
gown ? She said, ' Sir, this is all I have/ I 
put my hand in my pocket, but found I had 
scarce any money left, having just paid away 
what I had. It immediately struck me, Will 
thy Master say, ' Well done, good and faithful 
servant ! Thou hast adorned thy walls with 
the money which might have screened this 
poor creature from the cold ! ' O justice ! O 
mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of 
this poor maid? See thy expensive apparel 
in the same light — thy gown, hat, head-dress. 
Every thing about thee, which cost more than 
Christian duty required thee to lay out, is the 
blood of the poor.'* 

He says again, *^ Do not waste any part of 
so precious a talent merely in gratifying the 
desire of the eye by superfluous or expensive 
apparel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no 



136 All for Christ. 

part of it in curiously adorning your houses, in 
superfluous or expensive furniture, in costly 
pictures, painting, gilding, books: in elegant 
rather than useful gardens. Let your neigh- 
bors, who know nothing better, do this." Nei- 
ther this, however, nor the scriptural rule of 
doing all things to the glory of God, cuts off 
every thing that is ornamental, for the orna- 
mental is not always useless. Furniture and 
pictures may be good — may be handsome — 
and not be lavishly expensive. Our heavenly 
Father has himself so gorgeously ornamented 
this world, that almost every thing beautiful is 
an imitation of the nature which he has spread 
before us. But there is a limit. That limit 
may be known by consulting what we consci- 
entiously believe to be the tastes of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. When we build or hire a habita- 
tion we can be governed by what we think will 
please him rather than our neighbors. Every 
article of furniture we purchase may be pur- 
chased with the view of pleasing him rather 
than the world. In our mode of living we can 
adapt ourselves to that mode which we believe 
he would smile upon if he were to come again 



Social Tastes. - 137 

upon the earth and sojourn in our family. We 
do not suppose the Saviour will condemn us, 
any more than he did the woman who poured 
the box of precious ointment on his head, when 
we are trying, in all our details of household 

expenditure, to do every thing for his sake. 

18 



138 All for Christ. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MONEY CONSECRATED. 

\1I /"E proceed to observe that our money 
^ ^ and property belong to God as well as 
every thing else. And if we dwell upon this 
subject we imitate the inspired historian of the 
early Christians. It is a remarkable and sug- 
gestive fact that in the Acts of the Apostles, 
when the young converts are referred to who, 
thousands in number, joined the Church, there 
is more space given to a relation of the conse- 
cration of their money, or their moneyed inter- 
ests, than to the consecration of all other things 
put together. And this is not strange, because 
money is the universal power which commands 
all things and will purchase all things. He who 
undertakes to make a consecration of himself 
to God without including his purse, is like the 
manager who proposed to bring out the great 
tragedy of Shakspeare and leave out the part 
of Hamlet. 

Our money, then — our property — must be 



Money Consecrated, 139 

consecrated. The sincere Christian will decide 
what proportion of his earnings or salary he 
shall give directly to the Church and to other 
benevolent enterprises. It is true, however, 
that that which is employed for our personal 
expenses and the maintenance of our families 
is used for the glory of God, when the heart is 
pure, just as much as the contribution we make 
for the Church and the poor. But what we 
send out of our own household requires more 
faith, and, on that account, the proportion we 
shall give is to be fixed beforehand. This is a 
positive command of the Bible. It is the way 
which God has provided whereby the cares of 
this w^orld and the deceitfulness of riches shall 
be prevented from smothering the good seed 
in our hearts. It is the way by which we may 
be saved, if God shall give us wealth, from the 
wretchedness of a miser's life, and the despair 
of a miser's death. It is a fearful thing to be- 
hold a rich man sinking into eternity and 
struggling in vain for salvation. We remem- 
ber well one who spent his life in hoarding 
money, and was waked up by some trifling loss 
to see the precipice on which he stood. So 



140 All for Christ. 

intensely did he seek peace with God that he 
spent one whole day in prayer beneath the 
trees of his orchard. We visited him fre- 
quently, urging him to trust in Christ, but 
his invariable reply was, ^^ There is something 
in the way.'' 

That something was the sum of a hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars which he had 
amassed without devoting any fixed part of it 
to God. Had the Saviour appeared to him in 
person, and said to him, '' Sell all that thou 
hast and give to the poor," in spite of all his 
earnestness it would probably have had the 
same eflfect that it did when spoken eighteen 
hundred years ago. The old man, we are 
told, before he began to amass wealth had 
tried to be a Christian, but as he felt his power 
to gain money, had given himself to the 
world ; his hope of heaven had slipped away 
from him, and at seventy years of age he 
found himself without power to trust in the 
Saviour, and without the faith which would 
prompt him to give, for his sake, a dollar of 
his savings. He passed into eternity, con- 
stantly repeating, in answer to inquiries m.ade 



Money Consecrated. 141 

as to his spiritual state, ^^ There is something 
in the way/' 

A proportion settled beforehand, while we 
are young in years, and before any accumula- 
tion of money, is the very mode which God 
requires in his Word, not so much for the good 
which our benefactions may do, as for the pur- 
pose of saving our own hearts from the terri- 
ble death-grip of avarice, a grip so unrelenting, 
so utterly impossible to escape from, that when 
a man has arrived at a certain age, without 
having learned the blessedness of giving, it is 
as easy to call upon the grave to give up its 
dead as to call upon him to uncover his 
buried store. How often we have seen such 
cases ! How often we have all met with old 
men and women who are every year adding 
to their principal and interest, upon whom no 
earthly pressure can be brought which will 
extract a dollar for any religious or benevolent 
enterprise ! 

We say this consecration beforehand of a 
per centage on our receipts or salary is the 
very mode which Scripture teaches us. It is 
taught there, both by precept and example. 



142 All for Christ. 

We do not base our argument upon the system 
of the Jews, though there is nothing among 
them more absolutely insisted on than the 
dedication of a tenth at least to sacred pur- 
poses. One might suppose that this would 
be enough to convince any sincere Christian 
that God required such a mode on the part of 
his people in this day. The proportion might 
be different — we dare not say it may be less 
than a tenth — but the precepts to the Jews, on 
this subject, show that it was God's chosen 
way in regard to his own chosen people. And 
it is a mode which has never been abolished 
by the GospeL It is not a part of the cere- 
monial law connected with the sacrifices which 
ceased when Christ, the great sacrifice for sin, 
was offered once for all. It is a part of that 
everlasting moral law which Jesus said he 
came not to destroy but to fulfill. It was held 
in abeyance by the early converts of the apos- 
tolic era, simply because when severed from 
heathenism they gave their all— they brought 
their possessions and laid them at the apostles' 
feet. 

We will reason, however, independently of 



Money Consecrated, 143 

the Jewish dispensation. Take Jacob for an 
illustration. He lived in the age of the patri- 
archs, before the Hebrews became a nation — 
before the decalogue was given, and is, there- 
fore, an example of an obedience to God's 
eternal law applicable to every age. He went 
out from his father's house, a young man, 
possessing nothing but his staff. In his jour- 
ney he alighted upon a certain spot, where 
he tarried all the night. There he saw that 
memorable vision — a ladder reaching up to 
heaven, and the angels of God ascending and 
descending upon it. The Lord God of Abra- 
ham stood above it, who said to him, ^^ Behold, 
I am with thee." And thereupon the young 
man, with the light of that sacred vision illu- 
minating his mind, fresh from the presence of 
Jehovah, and conscious thus of what would be 
acceptable to him, made the solemn vow, ^^ Of 
all that thou shalt give me I will surely give 
the tenth unto thee." 

This was Jacob's system, adopted before the 
acquisition of any property, and is given to us 
for our guidance, as well as any other part of 
the Bible. This was also the system of Zac- 



144 All for Christ. 

cheus, who, instead of giving, like Jacob, ten 
per cent., gave fifty. ''Behold, Lord,'' said 
he, '' the half of my goods I give to the 
poor." The sacrifice was expressly approved 
by Christ, who said, " This day is salvation 
come to this house." 

Now^ look at the very commencement of 
Christianity, immediately after the day of 
Pentecost, just at the moment when the dis- 
ciples of Christ were living in the early sun- 
shine of a new and glorious dispensation. 
There is not much said of how these converts 
from paganism were changed in their life and 
deportment. There is not much said of how 
they gave up the honors and pleasures of their 
previous lives, though all these were done ; but 
there is a very special record made, as if it 
were intended to impress what is stated upon 
every member of the future Christian Church, 
of how^ they regarded their worldly substance. 
They did not stop at their income, but pos- 
sessors of lands or houses sold them, and 
brought the prices of the things that were 
sold and laid them down at the apostles' feet. 
The principle was, that what they possessed 



Money Consecrated. 145 

was no longer their own. As all things were 
in common, they gave all they had to the 
common, stock. But the Gospel spread to 
other lands and a community of goods became 
impracticable, and is impracticable now, while 
there are no fires of persecution to purify the 
Christian Church, and no miraculous sight to 
detect deceit. The early Christians, therefore, 
wherever the community of goods ceased, re- 
turned to the law given by God to man from 
the time of Adam — a law which Cain and Abel 
obeyed when they brought, one a proportion 
of his fruits, the other a proportion of his flock 
— a law which Abraham obeyed when he gave 
a tenth to Melchizedek — a law which Jacob 
promised to obey as he commenced life — a 
law which was given to our race at the same 
time as the law of the Sa?jbath and of mar- 
riage, and is as binding and obligatory, and 
was intended to be a guide to us until the day 
of judgment, as to the mode in which we 
should make our benevolent contributions. It 
was not necessary to re-enact it after our Sav- 
iour's death, because it had been one of the 

institutes of his Church and people since his 
19 



146 ' All for Christ. 

people had had an existence on the earth. 
But so as to make it absolutely certain that 
all Christians are bound by its provisions, the 
Apostle Paul, in i Cor. xvi, i, reminds the 
Church of its existence. He says: *^ Now 
concerning the collection for the saints," or 
benevolent objects, '^ as I have given order to 
the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon 
the first day of the week let every one of you,'' 
there is no exception of the rich or poor, ^^ lay 
by him in store, as God hath prospered him, 
that there be no gatherings when I come." 
Here every man is commanded, once a week, 
upon the Sabbath day, as a part of his de- 
votional exercises, side by side with prayer 
and praise, before he goes to God's sanctuary, 
or after his return, to take out of his earnings 
during the past week the proportion or per 
centage he may fix upon and to lay it aside, 
not for himself, but as a fund for benevolent 
objects, ready for distribution in such a way, 
for God and the world, as his conscience may 
from time to time dictate. 

We suppose all men, in all kinds of business, 
can calculate, or at least make an estimate of 



Money Consecrated, 147 

what their earnings have been through the week 
sufficiently exact to obey this rule. A mer- 
chant in an uncertain business may not be able 
to fix upon any definite amount ; he may hard- 
ly know whether he is making money or losing 
it ; but he can tell about what it costs to sup- 
port himself and his family, and this amount is 
impliedly the amount he is earning, and should 
form the basis or supposed receipts on which 
the beneficent percentage should be taxed. 
The great mass of people, however, are paid 
by the week, and from what they receive on 
Saturday night must make the contribution 
which is laid aside for God. Those persons, 
however, who receive their salary by the month 
or quarter, or in various sums at various times, 
should deduct the proportion when they re- 
ceive the money. Some men w^ho have long 
practiced this mode of beneficence prefer keep- 
ing a book account and charging against them- 
selves, by a regular entry, the sums which they 
have devoted out of their earnings. 

Let us carefully note here that the percent- 
age we speak of is not to be computed on our 
payings after the support of our farnilies. This 



148 All for Christ. 

in many cases would be nothing. What we 
give is to be computed on our gross earnings. 
If a clerk has a salary of a thousand dollars a 
year, the computation on that is to be made 
at the commencement of the year, and the 
amount is to be laid aside as he receives his 
weekly, monthly, or quarterly payments, and 
if the payments are made to him at irregular 
times, then when he receives the money. Min- 
isters are not excepted. There is not a single 
hint in the Bible which justifies a minister in 
excusing himself, and God's wisdom is appar- 
ent in this ; for how could a minister preach a 
law with unction, pathos, and earnestness, 
which he is not practicing or obeying himself. 
Perhaps this is one reason why this existing 
and binding law of God has fallen into such 
neglect. Ministers in some way, and without 
any reason whatever, have considered them- 
selves exempt from its provisions, and the re- 
sult is that the pulpit has been comparatively 
silent on the subject. We have even left out 
of our teaching in the Sabbath-school a direct 
precept of the Gospel, as obligatory as any 
other scriptural lawr 



Money Consecrated, 149 

To make our meaning clear, we suppose a 
clerk's salary, or a minister's salary, to be, as 
we said, a thousand dollars. Ten per cent, on 
this would be a hundred dollars a year. If a 
mechanic receive twelve dollars a week, he will 
deduct one dollar and twenty cents from it be- 
fore using any part of it for himself and family. 
If a young man starting in life receive but 
a hundred dollars a year, if he wish to be 
blessed by God he will deduct his percentage 
of ten dollars a year as he receives his money. 
With the gross receipts of a merchant or store- 
keeper the case, of course, is different. His 
earnings are only the difference between the 
amount he pays for goods and what he sells 
them for, deducting even from that the ex- 
pense of carrying on his business. He must, 
as we have already said, form some estimate 
of what he makes by taking as a basis the 
amount he spares from his business toward 
the support of himself and family. 

To deny this obligation is to deny one of 
the plainest commands of the Bible. It is to 
disregard the heaven-appointed system which 
Qod has prescribed for the purpose of saving 



150 All lor Christ. 

us from the perdition of increasing and hoarded 
wealth — a system which if commenced when 
we have nothing, as it was by Jacob, is easily 
practiced, and its benefits to ourselves and the 
world increase as our riches increase. If any 
of our readers who have neglected it should 
shrink from its adoption, because now it would 
be a serious tax upon their incomes, let them 
beware of defying what is clearly an obliga- 
tion of Scripture, and a provision ordained for 
their own safety. Too soon they will find that 
the good seed sown in their hearts may be 
choked by the cares of this world and the de- 
ceitfulness of riches. Let our Sabbath-school 
children be taught to practice it. Let our 
children at the fireside, instead of learning to 
hoard money for themselves, learn to devote 
a regular proportion of it to the Church, the 
Missionary Society, and other benevolent ob- 
jects. Let our young men as they commence 
life, like Jacob, consecrate their business by 
devoting a regular proportion of their earn- 
ings to Christ. How many young men, who 
come forward and seek the Saviour, draw 
back from their vows after coming to the 



Mvney Consecrated, 151 

altar and devoting their lives to God ! Is it 
not because, from lack of clear, positive, and 
authoritative instruction, they have failed to 
make money-getting a means of grace by 
adopting the provision on which we are in- 
sisting? 

To deny this obligation is to place ourselves 
without the pale of all those precious promises 
which God has given to him who is faithful 
in the unrighteous mammon — promises which 
are intended to assure to the faithful Christian 
a competence and abundance of all the good 
things of this life — promises which are as posi- 
tive and sure of their fulfillment as any others 
in the Bible — promises in which God himself 
assures us that the liberal soul shall be made 
fat, that while Vv^e scatter we shall increase ; 
that he that soweth bountifully shall reap also 
bountifully ; that what we give, God will pay 
us again ; that he is not unrighteous to forget 
our labor of love ; that he is well pleased with 
such sacrifices ; and that, to crown the whole, 
whatever we give, we are in fact making a loan 
of it to God himself. Is there a single reader 
who doubts the security of such an investment, 



152 All for Christ. 

or one who can imagine anywhere in the wide 
world a safer bank in which he may deposit 
his treasure ? 

When Hannah loaned her little boy to 
the Lord, and with an aching heart brought 
him to be educated amid the sacred precincts 
of the temple, she may have had some mis- 
givings, in parting from her child, as to the 
interest she was to receive. But when she be- 
held the subsequent life of Samuel, a life 
which for over two thousand years has been a 
constant reminder to the world of early piety 
and manly purity, she could not doubt, even 
on the ground of self-interest, the wisdom of 
her sacrifice. So we never lose by trusting 
God. Many men remain poor all their lives 
because they are afraid to loan to God. Mak- 
ing no investments they receive no interest. 
They will not believe the language of Script- 
ure, '^ It is he that giveth thee power to get 
wealth." They think that God will give grace 
and glory and some other things put down in 
their spiritual vocabulary, but they cannot con- 
ceive that he helps a man to make money. 
Such men, by excluding him from what occu- 



Money Consecrated, 153 

pies so much of their time, so much of their 
thoughts, so much of their energies, receive a 
just recompense in being left to a life of care, 
fretfulness, and penury. 

Let him who would acknowledge Christ in 
his business, in his work, in his daily toil, make 
a renewed consecration of himself this very mo- 
ment. Let him adopt, by writing down for 
himself, the words of Jacob now : ^* Henceforth 
of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give 
a tenth [or more] unto thee." 

Your earnings now may be very small. You 
may be only receiving the wages of a maid- 
servant. The tenth will then be so much 
the less. We are often unjust to the poorer 
members of the Church in not calling on 
them to contribute. We leave them to them- 
selves, excusing our own slothfulness in asking 
them by saying, they are not able to give. 
But if we put them on a right system of con- 
tribution it will raise them higher. They 
will become more able to help in every good 
work. 

Let the tenth or more, however, be your be- 
ginning, not your ending. If God shall bless 
20 



154 All for Christ. 

you with increasing wealth, while you improve 
the style of your living, your furniture, your 
dwelling, see to it that you improve upon the 
proportion of your benevolent contributions. 
It may then come up to the quarter, or, like 
Zaccheus, to the half. 

But this percentage or proportion is not all 
that is implied in making the renewed conse- 
cration of which we are speaking. Wherever 
a man sets before him, as the object of life, the 
accumulation of money, even should he give 
fifty per cent, to the poor and to the Church, 
he is making a mistake which will destroy his 
soul. Not that it is wrong to be rich. Abra- 
ham, Job, Jacob, David, Hezekiah were men 
of wealth. It is the determination to be such 
that is ruinous. ^' They that will [Greek, l?ou- 
lomenoZy will, wish, resolve, determine] be rich 
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many 
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in 
destruction and perdition." When a man's 
heart is right, and he no longer purposes being 
rich as the main object of his life, God can 
pour into his lap showers of gold and it will 
not hurt him. There is no doubt that our 



Money Consecrated, 155 

kind Father keeps many of his children poor 
because they are wishing too much to be rich. 
This is what the Bible says : ^^ He that loveth 
silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he 
that loveth abundance with increase." To give 
them wealth would simply lead them to perdi- 
tion. They have not begun a regular system 
of beneficence as a life-covenant — they have 
not given up the purpose to amass all they 
can for their own selfish objects, and God will 
not trust them with any more than what will 
supply their daily wants. Without this pre- 
vious consecration, and without the previous 
sacrifice of a purpose to be rich, two effects fol- 
low the accumulation of money : A man al- 
ways wants more ; as he gets more he grows 
m,ore stingy. How often it is that we see men 
living from hand to mouth, and they give 
something to charitable objects as they are 
called upon, but when a competency falls into 
their hands their purse is immediately closed. 
One prayed of old, ^^Give me neither poverty 
nor riches." It would be well for every one 
to pray, ^^ Lord, save me from the possession 
of money until I have made a solemn, irrev- 



156 All for Christ. 

ocable covenant to use it according to thy 
will." 

A man possessing property unconsecrated 
becomes not only useless to the world, not only 
hardened and withered in heart, not only 
drowned in destruction and perdition, but his 
life is a life of perpetual care, foreboding, anx- 
iety, and fretfulness. The dread of future want 
in the midst of his gathered thousands gives 
him no rest. His ^* gold and silver are can- 
kered, and the rust of them *' is a witness 
against him, and eats his ^^ flesh as it were 
fire." He has '^ heaped treasure together for 
the last days," and it gives him no peace, no 
rest in mind nor body. While ^^ the sleep of 
a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little 
or much . . . the abundance of the rich will not 
suffer him to sleep." He cannot cast his care 
on Jesus, because Jesus is not the object of his 
life, and because, all his life-time, he has been 
carrying his load of care himself; and in this 
state of mind many rich men have committed 
suicide simply because they were afraid of com- 
ing to want in the future. It has been said 
that all those who have committed suicide on 



Money Consecrated, 157 

account of this fear have been rich men. As 
a general rule we believe it to be a fact, and a 
remarkable fact. Such is the case of the ^^ man 
to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and 
honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul 
of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not 
power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. 
This is vanity, and it is an evil disease." On the 
other hand, we read of him who uses wealth to 
the glory of God : " Every man also to whom 
God hath given riches and wealth, and hath 
given him power to eat thereof, and to take 
his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is 
the gift of God." God will not bestow this gift 
of enjoying cheerfully our possessions unless 
they are consecrated to him. 

We must make up our minds that if we 
live to old age we can be happy without 
any hoarded wealth. Without being less dili- 
gent in making money, without being slothful 
in business, we must decide that we can be con- 
tent if our latter years shall be spent in some 
home of the indigent if God shall please to 
place us there. The simple fact is, that while we 
may not be actually obliged to imitate Christ in 



158 All for Christ. 

this respect, we must be satisfied in the con- 
templation of treading in his footsteps — of fol- 
lowing him who had no home of his own on 
earth, no property, no lands, and not even the 
ready cash to pay his tribute money. 



Use of Moftey. 159 



CHAPTER XV. 

NARRATIVES ILLUSTRATING THE LIBERAL 
USE OF MONEY. 

SELF-DENIAL is an essential part of a 
Christian character. Thousands and thou- 
sands of martyrs throughout the ages have at- 
tested it by their blood. Lord Cobham lived 
in England a hundred years before the time of 
the great Reformation. He spent much of his 
fortune in hiring men to copy the Bible, and 
sending them out with it to distribute, like 
our modern colporteurs. He sustained, by 
his own private means, traveling preachers 
in the dioceses of London, Canterbury, Roch- 
ester, and Hereford, and after years of this 
labor was roasted alive, suspended over a slow 
fire, for his devotion. We are living in these 
modern days, imperiled by no such persecu- 
tions, in the grateful shadow of the tree which 
such men planted. Had they not given their 
fortunes and lives to spread the Gospel we 



i6o All for Christ. 

might to this day have been reading our 
Bibles by the dim light of some ecclesiastical 
dungeon, or seen the block or the stake await- 
ing us if we refused to deny our principles. 
As we consider the lives of multitudes who 
have labored and suffered for God, we must 
never forget that, whether called to endure 
what .they did or not, we must be willing and 
ready to go to any extremity to which it may 
please God to call us. 

There are many in humble circumstances, of 
whom the world has never heard, who are 
treading in this path. A letter was received 
at the head-quarters of one of our missionary 
societies, from a pastor in Massachusetts, of 
which the following is an extract : — 

^' Day before yesterday a plain farmer and 
his wife called on me and stated that they 
wanted to get me to transmit some money to 
the .Board. The woman modestly hinted that 
it cost many a hard churning and hard day's 
work to raise the money, but if it might be 
the means of saving one poor heathen she 
should be satisfied. The man said, with tears 
in his eyes, that when he thought of the multi- 



Use of Money, i6i 

tudes of the heathen who were perishing without 
the Gospel he wanted to do something. They 
handed me a roll of five hundred dollars, which 
I inclose. This is the second donation of the 
same amount which they have made me in 
four or five years." 

We recollect the impression it made upon 
us years ago, in the preachers' meeting of New 
York, when one of our ministers rose and re- 
lated a circumstance in substance as follows : — 

'' I met a friend this morning with whom I 
stopped and conversed a few minutes. A 
person came up while we talked, and asked 
him for a contribution toward some object. 
He took out his pocket-book and gave him 
five dollars, and thanked him for asking him. 
We went on together. Another person ac- 
costed him and asked him to help a superan- 
nuated preacher. Again the pocket-book ap- 
peared, and he ha:nded him a bill the amount 
of which I did not see, and thanked him also 
for making the application. I then made some 
remark on the subject, when he replied : — 

** ' Brother, I came to this city when I was 

a poor boy. I could neither read nor write. 
21 



1 62 All for Christ. 

God converted my heart and put me in his 
Church, and I made up my mind when I began 
to serve him that I never would refuse to give 
in answer to a proper appHcation. The Lord 
blessed me and gave me means to give. I un- 
derstand you are building a new church. You 
have not asked me for a subscription, but I 
wish to give you something.* 

^' The pocket-book appeared again for the 
third time, and he handed me fifty dollars. 
And what I rejoice in is this, that there are 
many such men in this great city.'' 

Yes, there are thousands of men who be- 
long to all denominations, whole-souled, self- 
denying, liberal men, who are using their 
wealth for Christ. But how many are there 
who, as God gives them the means, enlarge 
their expenditures in every thing else, and give 
no more for Christ than they did years before ! 

In one of the impressive and pointed articles 
of C. C. North, Esq., on the '' Dangers of Meth- 
odism," this subject is discussed. He says: — 

*^ A farmer has driven his family to church 
with a pair of three hundred-dollar horses, 
more remarkable for strength than for beauty ; 



Use of Money, 163 

but, getting rich, he desires to exchange them 
for a thousand-dollar pair. Let him bestow 
seven hundred dollars on charitable objects, 
and then pay a like amount for the horses. 
So in every case, if a man pour into the Lord's 
treasury a sum equal to the difference between 
objects of necessity and luxury, his heart will 
be kept so alive to the right use of wealth that 
he will be in little danger of treading forbidden 
paths. 

^' If he cannot spare the capital for both 
classes of objects — luxurious and charitable — 
let him provide for the last or wait. It will 
not hurt him nor his family. The longer they 
retain fellowship with their poor but spiritug.1 
brethren the better it will be for them, and the 
more they will certainly have to give. The 
practice of even prosperous Methodists should 
be reversed. Instead of exhibiting the fruits 
of success in altered family conditions — a new 
house, new furniture, new equipage, costly 
attire, etc. — let enlarged giving be the evidence 
of prosperity. A congregation startled by a 
heavy contribution would know that a lucky 
trade had taken place, or that stocks had 



164 All for Christ. 

risen. Let donations to God precede gifts to 
the family. The example of the Israelites, 
who gave to God the first-fruits of their in- 
crease, should be the law of the modern 
Church. Thus would be fulfilled the words 
of Christ, * Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
and his righteousness, and all these things 
shall be added unto you.' In the pervading 
spirit of this law the danger from riches will 
pass, material power will be united with the 
spiritual, and, joined in indissoluble wedlock, 
as God intended them to be, they will go forth 
on their mission of good-will to man. 

^* The whole income of our people cannot 
be less than $500,000,000, the net profit of 
which at ten per cent, would be $50,000,000; 
the contributions to all objects within the 
Church cannot exceed $12,000,000, and out- 
side $3,000,000 more. Thus $15,000,000 out 
of $50,000,000 leaves $35,000,000. 

^* The danger to Methodism, then, lies in this 
vast sum amassed, but not for God's glory, for it 
goes into family luxuries, into real estate, into 
stocks, into business enterprises. What may 
we expect from it but that the coming genera- 



Use of Money. 165 

tions will become effeminate, restless under the 
restraints of the Discipline, devoid of the spirit 
of self-denial, until God shall raise up another 
people, who, imitating the simplicity and spir- 
ituaHty of the fathers, shall inherit their glory. 
Against this sum of $35,000,000 the whole 
enginery of the Church must be brought to 
bear, for it antagonizes every doctrine of the 
Gospel — it fosters pride, it engenders covet- 
ousness, it breeds worldly-mindedness, it ut- 
terly ignores the command of Jesus, ^Lay not 
up for yourselves treasures on earth.' " 

There is no danger that God will allow us 
to suffer by commencing to give more freely 
than our neighbors around us. Thousands of 
examples, besides the examples of Scripture, 
confirm the truth of every promise which Vv^e 
have quoted. We have now before us the 
brief narrative of one who was not afraid to 
trust the sure words of inspiration. He w^as a 
farmer, with a limited education in a common 
school, slow of speech, like Moses, and of sim- 
ple manners and habits. At a period when 
western Massachusetts w^as a new country, he 
purchased a farm of rough, uncultivated land, 



1 66 All for Christ. 

five miles from church and two miles from a 
school-house, and began his industrious toil, 
which he persevered in for half a century. 
When the cause of Christian benevolence be- 
gan to develop its blessings. Uncle Joel, the 
name by which he was known, avowed himself 
among its earliest, as he has proved one of its 
staunchest, friends. His charitable gifts were 
always about fivefold as great as those of his 
neighbors in like circumstances with him. 
This made them shake their heads and say, 
^^ Uncle Joel will certainly fail ;' his farm is not 
paid for, and it is too poor to support such ex- 
travagance." But Uncle Joel worked hard, 
thought and prayed much, and said nothing. 
Soon he purchased another farm, and in due 
time another — and paid for them, too — all the 
time giving largely for Christ's cause. After 
the predictions of his neighbors had repeatedly 
failed — instead of the failure of Uncle Joel — 
the tune was changed. Whenever a charitable 
appeal was made, every body was ready to say, 
'' Uncle Joel can give, whoever else cannot. 
The Lord prospers Uncle Joel.'' Yes, the 
Lord did prosper Uncle Joel. His family 



Use of Money, 167 

grew up around him virtuous and happy, re- 
fined and educated young men and women, 
a blessing to the community in which they 
dwelt. 

Among our converts in pagan lands some- 
times the Christian virtue of self-denial is con- 
spicuously manifested. The following^ which 
was published some time ago in one of our 
papers, is an example of what the Gospel can 
do even for the heathens :— 

** The thoughts and prayers of the Nestorian 
Mission had been occupied in a plan for send- 
ing native missionaries into the mountains, but 
the news of the troubles at hom.e, and the 
shortness of funds, seemed likely to blast their 
hopes. At the monthly concert in Geog Topa, 
a native pastor was preaching from, the text, 
*It is more blessed to give than to receive,' 
with the hope of raising twenty or thirty doU 
lars for the mountain mission. While preach- 
ing he was disturbed by whispering, and begged 
the people to be quiet, when one replied, ^ You 
stir us up and then command us to be silent.' 
Another then cried out, * I will give one ta- 
maun [two dollars and ten cents] for mission- 



1 68 All for Christ. 

aries to the mountains.' This was like a spark 
that ignited the whole congregation. A com- 
mon impulse to give moved the entire assem- 
bly, while the preacher stood silent and amazed, 
unable to finish his sermon. Men gave money, 
wheat, rice, and raisins. One man, who had 
saved enough for a broadcloth coat, brought 
the money, saying, ^ I will wear cotton this 
year, and give the money for Christ.' Women 
ripped off silver beads and clasps from their 
dresses, brought their ear and finger rings, and 
others gave their embroidered head-dresses, 
mantles, cotton, cloth, butter, rice, until the 
amount increased to seventy tamauns. 

*^The next day was the monthly concert in 
the city, at which many of the helpers from the 
different stations assemble. The pastor from 
Geog Topa gave an account of the events of 
the previous day, displaying the ornaments, 
clothing, and money, and telling of the tithes 
and first fruits of the fields and vineyards, and 
how they continued giving till the setting of 
of the sun. Immediately a man arose and of- 
fered one tamaun, another two, another three, 
another a fourth of the fruits of his vineyard, 



Use of Money. 169 

and one poor man, who had nothing but a 
mat, said, 'I will give that mat.' The same 
impulse actuated all present. Many of the in- 
stances were very touching and affecting. 
Comparing the Church to the bride of Christ, 
they furnished the complete bridal outfit — the 
dress, ring, vail, crown, the horse to carry her 
to the mountains, and the guns for the salute. 
Those who had once given gave a second and 
third time in behalf of absent friends. One 
very poor priest, w^hose feeble wife had pre- 
served a set of silver ornaments wherewith to 
purchase her tombstone, said with tears, ' She 
will give them up for Christ. He will know 
the spot where her dust is laid.' The hearts 
of all were full of joy, the faces radiant, their 
prayers warm and overflowing. 

'^ The w^hole amount contributed by these 
poor native Christians is about four hundred 
tamauns, or eight hundred and forty dollars, 
and more is expected. With regard to the 
self-denial and sacrifice thus manifested, there 
is this striking fact, that the capital represented 
at our monthly concerts is only a fraction of 

that of scores of country Churches. A rich 

22 



170 All for Christ. 

Nestorian is worth two hundred dollars ; if 
very wealthy, from four hundred to eight hun- 
dred. There are only two or three men worth 
two thousand dollars.'' 

We repeat, there are thousands of men in 
these rnodern days of wondrous liberality whom 
God has raised up to bless the world. A young 
man was teacher in our Sunday-school some 
years ago in a western city. He opened a lit- 
tle office as a banker, and as he served God, 
and gave to his cause according to his means, 
God honored and prospered him. He is now 
at the head of a large banking establishment 
in the West, and we read not long since, in one 
of the papers, of his giving a hundred thou- 
sand dollars toward the building of a church 
in the city where he commenced his business. 
What immense amounts have been given by 
such men within the last few years toward 
colleges and other educational institutions! 
But, alas! the great mass of our business men, 
mechanics, and farmers have not opened their 
eyes yet to the privilege of thus blessing the 
world. May God hasten the day when we 
shall all thus live to the glory of God ! 



Requisite for Heaven, 171 



CHAPTER XVI. 

WHETHER A CONVERTED SOUL, LEAVING THE 
EARTH WITHOUT BEING FULLY SANCTIFIED, 
CAN BE ADMITTED TO HEAVEN. 

A T the time of conversion the soul is 
-^^- united to Christ by a spiritual union. It 
commences then a course of discipline which is 
to prepare it for dwelling with him in heaven. 
That discipline is varied according to its men- 
tal and spiritual condition, and according to 
the age at which it w^as led to the Saviour. 
Some come to him in childhood, and have com- 
paratively little knowledge of the extent of the 
law of God ; but giving all to him, as far as 
they know, the sacrifice is accepted by an in- 
dulgent Father, who will reveal to them, as they 
can bear it, the length and breadth of his com- 
mands. Some are converted at mature age, 
whose knowledge is more perfect, and who, we 
might suppose, ought more rapidly to enter 
into the rest of faith. But at whatever age a 
man may be born again, God shows him as he 



172 All for Christ. 

is able to bear it, step by step, and it may be 
often all at once, how he can make a fuller, 
deeper consecration of his heart. If he shall 
do this, as he receives the light, he never falls 
into condemnation, but goes speedily onward 
until he sees the full extent of the Divine law, 
and then, by faith, he may enter the higher 
life of perfect love. Christians, however, too 
frequently, at some point or other, refuse to 
make this reconsecration, and fall first into in- 
difference, and then into unbelief, as to the 
possibility of attaining this state. 

But it is asked, ^' If a person is converted 
and living in a justifiied state, and he should 
die before he is wholly sanctified, would he be 
lost ? " We might answer it by saying that 
nothing unholy can enter heaven ; that while 
the Bible makes conversion an indispensable 
condition, it is not the only condition required 
for an eternity of bliss. It is not only neces- 
sary to accept the invitation to the marriage 
feast and become a guest, but we must put on 
the wedding garment. We might answer it 
by saying that God will not judge us at the 
last day by our conversion or by our faith in 



Requisite for Heaven, 173 

Christ, but simply by our works. Here on 
earth we are received by him, accepted and 
forgiven by faith, without money or price — 
without works of any kind. There we are 
judged by the fruits which our faith shall 
bear. It is he who does Christ's will, whose 
house is founded on a rock. It is he who 
feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits 
the sick, and hears the sentence, ^^ Come ye 
blessed." It is he who uses his talents, and 
not the unprofitable servant, whose ears are 
greeted by the words, " Well done, good and 
faithful servant." 

We prefer, however, to reply by saying that 
it is not necessary to answer such an interrog- 
atory at all, because it supposes a case which 
can never exist. // is impossible that any man^ 
woman, or child, who is living accepted of God, 
should die before being fully sanctified. What 
is the object of our life on earth? To become 
fully prepared for heaven. A man's business 
here is to reach perfect love. If this be the 
great object of our present existence, every 
thing else must bend to it, even the hour of 
our death ; and as our days are in his hands, 



174 All for Christ. 

God calls us home at that very time which 
will affect most favorably our eternal destiny. 
He does this because he is a God of love, be- 
cause he interferes, for our good, in every cir- 
cumstance of our lives, even to the numbering 
of the very hairs of our head ; and, as a God of 
love, will not cut us off until our preparation for 
eternity is complete. This is what the Bible 
teaches us : ** He which hath begun a good work 
in you will perform it,'* — epitelesei^ complete 
it, bring it to perfection. ^^ He that spared 
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
all, how shall he not with him also freely give 
us all things?" And if all things, how much 
more, and how much above every thing else, 
will he give us a fitness to stand in his pres- 
ence before he calls us hence ! ^' Blessed are 
they which do hunger and thirst after righte- 
ousness: for they shall be filled." Has he not 
said to the Christian, in whatever state of grace 
he may be, whether converted or wholly sanc- 
tified, ^^ I will never leave thee nor forsake 
thee?" How full, how inspiring, this promise 
is, as we turn to the original Greek, where we 
find five negatives instead of two to express 



Reqii isite for Heaven . 175 

God's unfailing love : '•'' I will not — I will not 
leave thee ; I will never, never, never forsake 
thee." 

But w^e must observe that all this applies 
only to one who is actually living in a justified 
state — to one who is, sincerely and honestly, 
trying to do, as far as his light goes, the whole 
will of God. If he has ever heard or read the 
commands, ^^ Be ye holy,'' " Go on to perfec- 
tion," he is trying to obey them. His soul is 
on the stretch for a higher life. He is hunger- 
ing and thirsting after righteousness. It does 
not apply to one who has backslidden from his 
first love, who is living, in the Church or out 
of the Church, according to a standard which 
he has set up for himself, and not according to 
the Bible. It does not apply to the lukewarm 
professor, who is neither cold nor hot. Such 
a one may die before he obtains perfect love, 
and instead of being saved, as he often fondly 
imagined he would be, his rejection by the 
Saviour is expressed in a figure of the utmost 
loathing, ^^ I will spew thee out of my mouth." 
We may express our idea in a condensed form : 
if, as Christians, we are earnestly seeking to 



176 All for Christ. 

be fully sanctified God will give us time for the 
completion of the work. 

There is a tremendous penalty to pay if we 
indulge in unbelief and trifle with our heavenly 
calling. St. Paul, in Hebrews, refers to the 
Jews who, through want of courage and faith, 
failed to go up and take possession of the 
promised land. God forgave their murmur- 
ing, their rebellion, even their worship of the 
golden calf; but for cowardice and unbelief 
they were condemned to die in the wilderness. 
They could never see that land of milk and 
honey, which was to have been the end of all 
their wanderings. ^^ Let us therefore fear,'* 
he says ; and again, '^ Let us labor therefore to 
enter into that rest ;" and again, ^' Therefore 
leaving the principles of the doctrine of 
Christ," [the first principles which we have al- 
ready learned,] ^^ let us go on unto perfection,'' 
etc. "And this will we do, if God permit. For 
it is impossible for those who were once en- 
lightened, and have tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy 
Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, 
and the powers of the world to come, if they 



Requisite for Heaven, 177 

shall fall away, to renew them again unto re- 
pentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the 
Son of God afresh, and put him to an open 
shame." This is the fearful penalty imposed 
by the Bible for not going on to perfection. It 
is, first, the losing of the freshness, tenderness, 
zeal, and vigor of our first love, and then the 
falling away from the clearness of our faith and 
the activity of our lives, until we reach a point — 
and God only knows where that point may be 
in our history — when it is impossible for us to 
rise again. It is true, we may sometimes sing : 

" While yet the lamp holds out to burn 
The vilest sinner may return." 

But there are no such words and no such doc- 
trine in the Bible. The clearest case of con- 
version recorded in the Old Testament is that 
of Saul, the first king of Israel, i Sam. x, 9, 10. 
But he failed to go up to a higher life, and it is 
expressly said that ,the Spirit of the Lord de- 
parted from him, (i Sam. xvi, 14,) and he ended 
his days on earth by committing suicide. 

We have an example in Abraham of an op- 
posite character. The time of his conversion 

is not recorded, but after he had left his coun- 
23 



1/8 All for Christ. 

try for a strange land, in obedience to the com- 
mand of Jehovah, the time came when God 
spoke to him of a deeper work of grace, and 
said, ^' Walk before me and be thou perfect/' 
As we read his previous history we can have 
no doubt that he was already converted ; but 
that he was not fully sanctified appears clearly 
from various incidents in his life which the 
Bible reveals to us. Here was the state of 
grace to which he was called, ^' Be thou per- 
fect/' Then God showed him how this state 
was to be attained. He said to him, ^* Take 
now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou 
lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah ; 
and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon 
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.*' 
This was the renewed consecration, and this 
was the mode of entering a higher life. He 
could give nothing greater, nothing dearer, than 
his son, and he could enjoy the blessing only 
by obeying the command. 



Witnesses of Perfect Love. 179 



CHAPTER XVII. 

WITNESSES OF PERFECT LOVE. 

WHO will make this renewed dedication 
to God in thought, word, Hfe, time, 
business, food, money, property, and look by 
faith for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which 
will purify his heart? Do we forget that we 
must be holy, that we must be saints on earth, 
or the heavenly gates will be closed against 
us? Why were the early Christians called 
saints and holy brethren ? Because it was ex- 
pected they should be holy here. Why was 
Paul so earnest that he might present every 
man perfect in Christ Jesus ? Because he 
knew that without this perfection they could 
not enter heaven. Why did the Saviour say, 
'^ Blessed are the pure in heart ?'' Because he 
intended his people to be pure. Why do our 
own hearts tell us so often, independently of 
all conscious Bible truth, that we must cease 
Yrom sin in this life if we expect to be saved ? 



i8o All for Christ. 

Do you say that holiness is only for certain 
persons ? Then we answer, that heaven is 
only for these certain persons, and you had 
better be one of them. Of him who has the 
hope of heaven we read the express statement, 
'' Every man who hath this hope in him puri- 
fieth himself," 

But you ask, Who is holy here ? Where are 
the witnesses? Shall we open the Bible, that 
Word which cannot lie ? Here, then, before 
the glory which fell upon the Church at the 
day of Pentecost, and which has since contin- 
ued with it, giving us higher power than the 
saints of preceding ages ; here, even before the 
light of the Jewish dispensation, is Noah, whom 
God declared to be a just man and perfect in 
his generations. Here is Enoch, who walked 
so closely with God that he was translated. 
Here is Job, of whom the Lord said when 
Satan accused him of insincerity and sin, that 
he was a perfect and an upright man, '^one 
that feareth God and escheweth evil." Mark, 
God asserts not that he tried to avoid evil, but 
that he did divoid it. And Elijah, was he sin- 
ning when the chariot of fire swept in between 



Witnesses of Perfect Love. 1 8 1 

him and Elisha^ or had he ceased from sin and 
learned to do well ? And the father and moth- 
er of John the Baptist^ were they always sin« 
ning and repenting when it was said of them 
that they were both righteous before God, 
walking in all the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord blameless ? 

And what shall w^e say of Fletcher, Bram- 
well, Abbott, Carvosso, Nelson, Hester Ann 
Rogers, Mrs. Fletcher, Lady Maxwell, and a 
thousand others ? Were they all mistaken, and 
did they perpetuate a base falsehood when 
they said they enjoyed the blessing of perfect 
love ? Who can read that noble monument of 
untiring research and literary talent, Stevens' 
^* History of Methodism," w^ithout being con- 
vinced that herein lay the strength of the found- 
ers of our Church ? If every family would pos- 
sess themselves of these volumes and read them, 
we have no doubt the result would be a grand 
revival throughout all our Church. How few 
of us, in these modern times, have allowed our 
souls to be quickened and inspired by the pe- 
rusal of the lives of Fletcher, Bramwell, and 
the other heroes of faith to whom we have 



1 82 All for Christ. 

referred ! If the Apostle Paul, in the eleventh 
chapter of Hebrews, cited the worthies who 
preceded the era in which he lived to inflame 
the zeal and strengthen the faith of the early- 
Christians, how appropriate it is that we should 
seek incentives to a closer walk with God by an 
acquaintance with the courage, the struggles, 
the sufferings of those to whom we owe the 
institutions under which we dwell. And then, 
as we look further back upon the era of the 
great Reformation, and behold Luther, Knox, 
Cobham, Savonarola, Huss, Lefevre, Gustavus 
Adolphus, and the great army of reformers and 
martyrs in England, Scotland, France, Ger- 
many, and Italy, giving all for Christ, many of 
them dying at the stake, on the block, in the 
dungeon, as they laid the foundations of the 
religious liberty which we now enjoy, who can 
count up the numbers who served God with a 
perfect heart? 

John Wesley, in speaking of this full salva- 
tion, says : *' I desired all those in London who 
made the same profession to come to me, all 
together at the Foundry, that I might be thor- 
oughly satisfied. I desired that man of God, 



Wz^ 77 esses of Perfect Love, 183 

Thomas Walsh, to give us the meeting there. 
When we met, first one of us, and then the 
other, asked them the most searching questions 
we could devise. They answered every one 
without hesitation, and with the utmost sim- 
plicity, so that we were fully persuaded they 
did not deceive themselves. In the years 1759, 
1760, 1 761, and 1762, their numbers multiplied 
exceedingly not only in London and Bristol, but 
in various parts of Ireland as well as England. 
Not trusting to the testimony of others, I care- 
fully examined most of them myself, and in 
London alone I found six hundred and fifty- 
two members of our Society who were exceed- 
ing clear in their experience [as to perfect love], 
and of whose testimony I could see no reason 
to doubt. I believe no year has passed since 
that time wherein God has not wrought the 
same work in many others, but sometimes in 
one part of England or Ireland, sometimes in 
another." And then he adds the statement : 
^' Every one of these (after the most careful in- 
quiry I have not found one exception either in 
Great Britain or Ireland) has declared that his 
deliverance from sin was instantaneous — that 



1 84 All for Christ. 

the change was wrought in a moment. Had 
half of these, or one third, or one in twenty, 
declared that it was gradually wrought in them^ 
I should have believed this with regard to 
thcrn^ and thought that some were gradually 
sanctified and some instantaneously. But as I 
have not found in so long a space of time a 
single person speaking thus, as all who believe 
they are sanctified declare with one voice that 
the change was wrought in a moment, I cannot 
but believe that sanctification [entire sanctifi- 
cation] is commonly, if not always, an instan- 
taneous work.'' 

If we w^ill lay aside the eye of prejudice and 
make allowance for the imperfection of human 
nature, and look only for a perfection of love, 
we will find in this very day persons living in 
the enjoyment of this blessing scattered all 
over the land. And we can testify, after an 
experience of twenty-five years in preaching 
the Gospel, that they are the men and women 
most to be relied on in the Church. There 
are cases in which unsanctified people make 
a profession of perfect love, just as there are 
thousands of cases in which unconverted per- 



Wit?iesses of Perfect Love. 185 

sons make a profession of conversion. But 
does this destroy the usefulness of those who 
really enjoy that blessing? When Wesley be- 
gan to preach, the great mass of Church mem- 
bers would not believe that they could obtain 
any witness of their acceptance with God, just 
as many now assert that there is no direct wit- 
ness of any second blessing. Thank God, the 
time is coming when holiness shall be believed 
in every-where, sought for every-where, written 
every-where, even, as it is expressed in the lan- 
guage of inspiration, upon the bells of the 
horses. 

We say the witnesses abound in this very 
day. Here are a husband and wife, we knew 
them well, who made a distinct profession of 
perfect love. Wherever they went, religion 
was their theme. Always in their places in 
the sanctuary and social meetings, and always 
ready to work for God, we knew just where to 
find them. Here is another ; his praise was in 
all the Church. Here is another in a different 
charge — he is class-leader and steward. He is 
to-day the most useful man in one of the 

Churches of the New York District. Here is a 

24 



1 86 All FOR Christ. 

sister. *^0n such a day/' said she, "I began 
to seek earnestly for perfect love. I felt I 
dared not live without it. On such a day, two 
months afterward, I found it, and for three 
years I have enjoyed this precious blessing.'* 
'' I sought for purity of heart," said another 
faithful woman, *^ and after I found it, God 
gave me the conversion of my husband. I 
believe he never would have come to Christ 
had he not blessed me first with his perfect 
love." 

A young lady moved out to the borders of 
civilization. She and her husband were both 
Christians. She had left her friends and sunny 
home, and, as far as she knew, had at her con- 
version given up all for Christ. But there, in 
a region wild and strange, she found that she 
still loved the world too well. She was alone 
one Sabbath morning in her new home. She 
had been reading, and feeling deeply convinced 
of her need of a higher state of grace, she laid 
the book aside, and knelt before God, inquir- 
ing, *' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
'' Give all for Christ." 

With the sacred light which had been shin- 



I Fitnesses of Perfect Love. 187 

ing on her soul for weeks, illuminating every 
part of her moral being, she made a renewed 
consecration of all to him — her time, her 
thoughts, her dress, her words — and pleaded, 
^* Lord, what more ? '' ^^ Only believe." '' It is 
much to believe," she inwardly replied, "that 
Christ will cleanse me from all sin, and keep 
me by his power spotless from the world. But 
I know he is almighty, and I will trust him 
henceforth, now and forever. Lord, I will — I 
do believe." 

She rose from her knees, her heart filled with 
peace. It was the peace which flowed as a 
river. When temptation came she found that 
a new power had been implanted within her 
soul, for she had entered the highway of holi- 
ness. Christ had taken full possession of her 
heart. 

We knew a young man who was in business, 
residing in the city of New York. He was a 
Christian, and had been for years a member of 
an evangelical Church. Long and earnestly 
he sought a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit 
and victory over sin. One Sunday night he 
sat down and made in writing a renewed con- 



1 88 All for Christ. 

secration of his heart to God, a part of which is 
as follows : — 

'^ I do, O my God, solemnly surrender my- 
self to thee, and do give and consecrate to thee 
my soul and body, my mind, my faculties, my 
talents, my time, the members of my body, 
my influence over others, all my powers of 
thought and exertion — every thing to be used 
just as thou choosest until death and through 
eternity. I beseech thee, give me the power, 
disposition, and will, to confirm and ratify this 
act." 

That renewed consecration led him to the 
object he had so long sought — a renewed bap- 
tism of the spirit of Pentecost. For years he 
had groaned and prayed over the corruption of 
his heart. Now, as he entered by faith a high- 
er Christian life, he found that where sin had 
once existed it had disappeared. Day after 
day passed, and he perceived that a depth of 
peace had entered his soul which was beyond 
any previous experience. By watching and 
prayer, by clinging to the Saviour, he saw he 
had a power to live without condemnation. 
Every doubt of his acceptance with God had 



Witnesses of Perfect Love. 189 

disappeared. To lie down at night was to feel, 
without a cloud, that sudden death was heav- 
en. And thus he continued. 

Personally, we ought to be a believer in per- 
fect love. The example of a sainted mother 
impresses every hour of our existence. The 
recollection of different stages in her Christian 
experience, from our childhood upward, is a 
silent but effective testimony that holiness of 
heart is attainable in this life. There were 
years when, amid earthly cares and sorrows, 
she expressed to us the sentiment, ^^ I am tem- 
pest-tossed and tried, but I find relief in God.'' 

There were other succeeding years when we 
observed a change in her language. 

'* I am no longer troubled about the things 
of this world as I once was. God has taken 
away every fear and every anxiety. I find not 
only relief in him, but a perfect rest. He gives 
me a peace that sorrows no longer ruffle ; and 
as to my future state I have no doubt what- 
ever that when I am called away, be it sud- 
denly or otherwise, I shall be saved.'' 

And it was suddenly that her heavenly Fa- 
ther pleased to call her. Early one summer 



jgo All for Christ. 

morning she fell asleep without a single strug- 
gle, so peacefully, so triumphantly, that as she 
ceased breathing a smile illumined her lip. 
We believe it was a welcome to the angels 
waiting to conduct her up through the gates 
of the city. The same lips were our guide, at 
nine years of age, to the Saviour. A clear, 
definite conviction, and a conversion as clear 
and definite, forbids us ever to doubt that our 
sins were then forgiven. Years of struggle 
with sin, an intense longing for deliverance 
from it, daily and regular prayer, a frequent 
and daily reading of the Bible, confirmed im- 
pressions which the Spirit of God made from 
time to time in our heart that we must rise to 
a higher and purer Christian life than that 
which we enjoyed. The subject was presented 
to us in this way : — 

^^ Heaven is holy, but you are not holy. 
There is no sin there, but you have not yet 
learned to cease from sin ; you must reach 
that point or you are not prepared to dwell 
with Christ.'' 

During these years, however, we never lost 
the evidence of our acceptance with God, ex- 



Witnesses of Perfect Love, 191 

cept when we consciously sinned ; then, not 
resting in it, we rose again, wrestling in prayer 
until we saw the light of his countenance again 
upon our soul. The time came when the por- 
tals of a higher life opened to us, and we 
found that, while we continued in watching 
and prayer, a new power was implanted within 
us. We felt then such an increased sense of 
the sinfulness of our past life — such a con- 
sciousness of our own utter helplessness — such 
a revelation of the imperfection of all that we 
could think or do, that we were able to take 
Christ more fully than we had ever done before 
as our only atonement, our only strength, our 
only salvation. 

Only by this grace shall we be able to obey 
Christ, in being always ready for death. He has 
said positively and without qualification, '' Be 
ye ready." This is his command. If we expect 
to reach heaven we must obey him in this as 
in every thing else. So far from being impos- 
sible, it is the state in which we most easily do 
the will of God — the state in which we enjoy 
the greatest bliss. In a mountainous district 
of the State of New York, a Christian brother, 



192 All for Christ. 

one evening, spoke in fervent tones of his love 
to Jesus. As he sat down and joined in sing- 
ing his praises there was a fullness of joy that 
shone upon his countenance revealing what he 
felt in his heart. The prayer-meeting was 
held at his house, and at its conclusion he re- 
tired to rest. During the course of the night 
steps were heard in his room, and his children 
made the inquiry, ^^ Father, are you not well?'' 

"Yes, but I am so happy that I cannot 
sleep.'' 

In the morning he did not appear as usual 
at breakfast. His children entered his sleep- 
ing apartment. A heavenly smile rested on 
his countenance, but his spirit had flown to 
the joys which had been dawning on his soul. 

" In such an hour as ye think not the Son 
of man cometh." '' Blessed is that servant 
whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so 
doing.*' 

THE Eiro. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



7(^^ 



